French teens clash with police as school blockades intensify
PARIS: French teenagers on Tuesday set fire to rubbish bins and hurled projectiles in clashes with police, as they kept up a blockade of some high schools demanding better conditions at their establishments but which has angered the government.
On Tuesday, French teenagers clashed with police in a bid to maintain blockades of high schools demanding improved conditions, despite the government's disapproval. The students have been protesting for weeks, voicing their grievances over issues such as timetables, class sizes, teacher shortages, and overheated classrooms due to recent heatwaves.
The movement, originating in the Paris region, has now expanded to other cities throughout the country. In Lille, northern France, masked students set rubbish bins ablaze, with Bus shelters and advertising billboards also vandalized as police responded by using tear gas. At the Lycee Gabriel Guist in Nantes, teenagers piled up bins to block access, while in Paris, a confrontation occurred between 30 students and a group of police at the Arago school. Similar incidents were reported in Marseille, Bordeaux, and Lyon.
At the Lamartine school in Paris, around 80 students demonstrated, holding signs with slogans like "more hours of lessons than sleep" and "8am to 6pm, are we pupils or under arrest?" Similarly, at the Lycee Brequigny in Rennes, approximately a hundred students hurled objects at the building. The actions come as unions plan nationwide demonstrations and strikes against Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's budget, which has been criticized as unfavorable to the country's economy.
The head of the hardline CGT union, Sophie Binet, urged the government to address the demands and revise the budget, which she deemed dangerous and driving the nation towards recession.
A 17-year-old student at the Lamartine school, who wished to remain anonymous, expressed their anger towards inadequate resources, overheated classrooms, and congested timetables. They also stated they were there to support teachers who were overwhelmed with work relative to their earnings. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez condemned any escalation of demonstrations, stating that 164 arrests were made on Monday and 180 schools were affected.
In France's low-income Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, the district's LFI mayor Bally Bagayoko joined a protest of hundreds of students at the Lycee Paul-Eluard, describing the protests as "completely legitimate" and lamenting how children from these areas are often neglected and receive fewer resources than those from wealthier districts.
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