French school blockades spread with police clashes as unions stage day of action over budget

French teenagers clashed with police on Tuesday as blockades of high schools that began around Paris spread to other cities, while unions staged a nationwide day of demonstrations and strikes over Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s cost-cutting budget, AFP reported.

High-school students have been protesting outside their schools since last week over timetables, class sizes and a shortage of teachers, with some blocking entrances with rubbish bins and setting fire to them. The movement, in the lycees that handle the final years of schooling, started in the Ile-de-France region around Paris, where education authorities reported blockades at about 10 schools on Tuesday, before spreading nationwide.

Masked students gathered outside the Lycee Cesar Baggio in Lille as a bin burned, with police using teargas as clashes erupted, an AFP photographer reported. Teenagers piled up dozens of bins to block the entrance of the Lycee Gabriel Guist’hau in Nantes, while in Paris there was a standoff between 30 students and police at the Arago school. Similar actions were reported in Marseille and Lyon.

At the Lamartine school in Paris, about 80 students carried slogans including “more hours of lessons than sleep” and “8am to 6pm, are we pupils or under arrest?”.

The actions came as unions planned nationwide demonstrations over the budget of Lecornu, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron. Tens of thousands were expected to rally in Paris and other cities, with teachers and fire services striking nationwide. “The anger is immense. I warn the government, it must address the demands and revise the draft budget,” CGT union chief Sophie Binet told BFM TV.

Lecornu said on Monday that any escalation of demonstrations at high schools would be “irresponsible”, and lashed out at the hard-left France Unbowed party for encouraging the protests. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 164 arrests had taken place on Monday and 180 schools were affected: “We cannot tolerate excesses.”

Sources

• AFP via Dawn: https://www.dawn.com/news/2033508
• AFP via The Straits Times: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/french-teens-blockade-schools-as-unions-vow-day-of-anger-over-cost-cutting-budget
• AFP via Turkiye Today: https://www.turkiyetoday.com/region/french-teens-clash-with-police-as-school-blockades-spread-3229222
• AFP via Saudi Gazette: https://www.saudigazette.com.sa/article/664957/world/french-students-clash-with-police-as-protests-over-conditions-in-schools-intensify