School protests and blockades resume across France despite PM's promise to act

Protests have resumed at schools across France on Thursday, as high school students press on with demands for more education funding and better conditions, the day after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ordered ministers to produce an action plan by the end of the month, Al Jazeera reports. University students and more trade unions have joined the movement, and a large rally is expected in Paris on Thursday.

The Interior Ministry says 375 schools were fully or partially closed on Thursday and that two dozen had been burned or destroyed. At least 6,600 arrests — mostly of minors — have been made so far. Rights groups have accused police of using disproportionate force: several demonstrators have been injured, including one teenager who lost a hand and another whose jaw was shattered by an exploding stun grenade; stun grenades have since been banned at marches.

Lecornu condemned the violence in a Wednesday TV address, faulting “political leaders who use this anger to conduct their electoral battles” after opposition leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon called for the marches to continue. The wave began on 21 September in a high school in a deprived area of Paris; tens of thousands of students have since marched for renovated school buildings and fewer classroom hours. The unrest piles pressure on Emmanuel Macron’s cash-strapped outgoing government ahead of April elections.