French teens clash with police as high school blockades intensify

French teenagers on Tuesday set fire to rubbish bins and hurled projectiles at police in cities across France. Students are blockading high schools to demand better conditions, and the protests have angered the government.

Why are French high school students blockading schools?

Students have protested outside their schools since last week over timetables, class sizes and a shortage of teachers. They also cite overheated classrooms after the recent heatwaves. Many say schools lack the resources they need, especially in low-income areas.

AFP

The movement began in the lycees, which handle the final years of school in France. It started in the Ile-de-France region around Paris, where education authorities reported blockades in some 10 schools on Tuesday. It has since spread to other cities nationwide.

Where have the school blockades and clashes taken place?

In Lille, in northern France, masked students gathered outside the Lycee Cesar Baggio and set bins on fire, an AFP photographer reported. Bus shelters and advertising billboards were vandalized. Bottles, paving stones and other objects were hurled at police, who responded by firing tear gas.

AFP

In the western city of Nantes, teens piled up dozens of bins to block the entrance to the Lycee Gabriel Guist'hau. In Paris, 30 students and a contingent of police were locked in an uneasy standoff at the Arago school. Similar actions were reported in Marseille, Bordeaux and Lyon.

What are students saying about the protests?

At the Lamartine school in Paris, around 80 students gathered with slogans including "more hours of lessons than sleep" and "8:00 am to 6:00 pm, are we pupils or under arrest?" A 17-year-old pupil, who asked not to be named, said she was angered by a lack of resources, overheated classrooms and overly congested timetables.

"We are also there to support our teachers who have a crazy amount of work compared to what they earn," she told AFP.

There were tense scenes at the Lycee Brequigny in Rennes, Brittany's largest high school, where around a hundred students hurled projectiles at the building, an AFP video journalist said.

How has the French government responded to the school protests?

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Monday that any escalation of demonstrations at high schools would be "irresponsible." He also lashed out at the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party for encouraging the protests. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 164 arrests took place on Monday and 180 schools were affected.

"We cannot tolerate excesses," Nunez said.

AFP

In the 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. He led students in a rendition of the Marseillaise and described the protests as "completely legitimate." He complained that low-income areas receive fewer resources than higher-income ones.

Victoire, a 16-year-old student at the school, said: "We, the children of the suburbs, are abandoned and neglected." She denounced conditions at the establishment as "unsanitary."

What are the unions planning alongside the student protests?

The student actions came as unions planned a day of nationwide demonstrations and strikes over the budget of Prime Minister Lecornu, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron. Tens of thousands were expected to rally in Paris and other cities. Teachers and fire services were striking nationwide, although public transport was not badly affected.

Sophie Binet, head of the hardline CGT union, told BFM TV: "The anger is immense. I warn the government, it must address the demands and revise the draft budget, which is dangerous for the country and is driving us straight into the wall of recession at 200 kilometers an hour."