France student protests spread nationwide as school unrest turns political

Student protests over school conditions and admissions have spread across France, triggering clashes with police. The unrest has turned education into an election flashpoint and exposed deeper anxieties about inequality in schools.

In Short

• Demonstrations over poor facilities and long days disrupted classes across France
• Education ministry said protests affected 560 schools by Friday afternoon
• Police used tear gas and batons as vandalism and injuries mounted

Student protests have spread across France just weeks after the new academic year began, bringing arrests, injuries and disruption at hundreds of schools. What began in the Paris region has quickly turned into a nationwide movement over conditions in schools, long days and the university admissions system, with Friday seeing fresh clashes, vandalism and police action.

The unrest has also become a major political issue as France heads into a presidential election campaign. Candidates have taken sharply different positions, while President Emmanuel Macron has spoken out against protest violence and what he described as political manipulation of young demonstrators.

By early afternoon on Friday, the education ministry said protests were affecting 560 schools. The scenes seen through the week continued, with vandalism, rubbish fires, teenagers confronting and taunting police, and officers charging crowds, firing tear gas and making more arrests.

Street protests have long been a part of public life in France, from the student movement of 1968 to suburban unrest in 2005 and the 2023 demonstrations against pension reforms. The students now blocking school gates and marching with placards have shown a high degree of organisation, including wearing masks and goggles to protect themselves from tear gas.

The protests first broke out last week in the Paris region and then spread rapidly across the country, including to smaller towns. High school students say schools are under-resourced, buildings are run down and staffing is inadequate. They also complain that school days, often beginning at 8 am, are too tiring and that the university entrance system is too complicated. Some university students also joined the protests this week.

The protests have come despite education remaining one of the biggest items in the state budget proposed by Macron's government this week. It has set aside 65.5 billion euros (USD 74 billion) for schools next year, more than the proposed 63.4 billion euros for defence.

The government has said it respects the right to peaceful protest, but it has also sent written orders to police to clear demonstrations that block access to schools and to stop violence and vandalism quickly. Riot police have widely used tear gas, used batons and made arrests to disperse crowds.

Police and school staff have been targeted with explosive fireworks and other projectiles that can cause injury. The interior ministry said acid had been thrown in some cases. It also said people intent on destruction and looting had attached themselves to the high school students' movement and behaved like "criminals and vandals", not "young people legitimately voicing their demands".

Police made more than 1,900 arrests on Thursday, when 305 officers were injured, the interior ministry said. The unrest continued on Friday and also spread to neighbouring Belgium, where about a dozen schools closed in Liege a day after violence in the city and six arrests there.

The protests have unfolded against wider concerns about France's education system. There are fears that it is falling behind systems in other countries and failing to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds move up the social ladder. According to the latest PISA report, gaps in performance between the most advantaged and the most disadvantaged students are widening, while overall scores in reading comprehension and mathematics have fallen sharply.

The government had banned smartphones from high schools at the start of the school year in September, saying removing screens would improve learning. France also became the first country in the European Union this year to ban social media platforms for children under 15, but the country's top court struck down that measure.

The timing of the unrest has made it especially sensitive politically. Candidates campaigning to succeed Macron in May have seized on the demonstrations, and although he is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term, Macron has also entered the debate.

Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has backed the students and described police action as "savagery" and repressive. Some protesters' injuries have led to suspicions that police fired crowd-control projectiles. Melenchon's critics have accused his France Unbowed party of fuelling violence and trying to gain politically from the protests.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen has called for wider police powers against rioters. Conservative former prime minister Edouard Philippe, one of Le Pen's main challengers for the presidency, has condemned those who "break things, burn things, or assault people".

In sum, France's student protests have escalated from local demonstrations into a nationwide confrontation involving schools, police and politicians. The movement has brought attention to students' complaints about school conditions and pressure in the education system, even as the violence around the protests has deepened political divisions during the election campaign.

With PTI Inputs

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