Across France, a wave of large-scale demonstrations involving students, parents, and trade unions is highlighting critical underinvestment in high schools. The protests have led to widespread disruptions, with a substantial percentage of universities and high schools facing blockades or closures. Participants are voicing concerns over inadequate resources, dilapidated facilities, and insufficient measures for extreme weather conditions like heatwaves. Reports of clashes with police and the government's response to the unrest, including a review of a "rioters-pay" bill, add to the complexity of the unfolding situation.

Across France, a wave of large-scale demonstrations involving students, parents, and trade unions is highlighting critical underinvestment in high schools. The protests have led to widespread disruptions, with a substantial percentage of universities and high schools facing blockades or closures. Participants are voicing concerns over inadequate resources, dilapidated facilities, and insufficient measures for extreme weather conditions like heatwaves. Reports of clashes with police and the government's response to the unrest, including a review of a "rioters-pay" bill, add to the complexity of the unfolding situation.

Across France, a wave of large-scale demonstrations involving students, parents, and trade unions is highlighting critical underinvestment in high schools. The protests have led to widespread disruptions, with a substantial percentage of universities and high schools facing blockades or closures. Participants are voicing concerns over inadequate resources, dilapidated facilities, and insufficient measures for extreme weather conditions like heatwaves. Reports of clashes with police and the government's response to the unrest, including a review of a "rioters-pay" bill, add to the complexity of the unfolding situation.

Students, parents and trade unions have gathering across France in a large demonstration against underinvestment in high schools.

Around 90 per cent of universities and about 891 high schools out of the 3,700 are blocked or closed by the government today.

The protests are taking place in more than 30 towns and cities, including  Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Lyon and Paris,

An estimated 86,000 demonstrators gathered on Tuesday morning, according to the Interior Ministry.

In Marseille, the procession is being attended by at least 30,000 people, according to organisers.

In Paris, the demonstration is set to begin at 2 pm local time, and the march is set to start from Place de la République, heading towards Nation.

In Lyon, a crowd of 5000 were gathered for the October 6 protests.

In Tours, all High schools are closed, and the demonstration will begin at 2 pm local time.

Porte d'Aix by the deployment of riot police in front of the Saint-Charles train station.

One teaching assistant, 24, who spoke to Le Monde said that he was there to supervise the students he's responsible for daily at his school in a working-class neighborhood of Marseille.  "They demonstrated by replicating what they see on social media and in the news... the race to see which high school will be the most violent. We want to show them that there's also a peaceful way to support their legitimate demands. They're between 15 and 17 years old. At that age, I didn't even know what demonstrating was,"

Parents at the protests expressed worry over long school hours. Classes in France start at 08:30 and can run till 18:00.

Protests demanded better conditions. One high school student told AFP that there were not enough tables or chairs in classes. “Our toilets have no doors, no toilet paper, no soap," he said.

Pascal Cabaret, a history teacher at a high school in Toulouse, said that high schools weren’t equipped to cope with high temperatures amid the Europe heatwave.

There are already reports of students clashing with police in several parts of the country, including in Strasbourg.

The French government had meanwhile decided to review the "rioters-pay" bill amid the student movement and widespread cases of vandalism.

The draft aimed to make any member of a group responsible for damages liable, even if they were not the perpetrator. Its implementation, should the bill pass, promises to be complex.

The government in France also accused the Far left of adding fuel to the violence in the movement

A series of protests over the past couple of weeks in the country left several high schools damaged, with windows broken and cases of arson.

Teenagers also clashed with riot police and suffered injuries. One student was hit in the eye and ont lost his teeth; police officials were also injured. Student leaders said that the protest was hijacked by outsiders.

Meanwhile, the French Human rights institution expressed concern about the disproportionate use of force durin the protests by the police.

TAGS