Students in France were largely back in the classroom on Friday after days of protests over school conditions, but organisers say the movement is not over. The United Nations human rights office said it was following events "with concern" and urged all sides to remain peaceful, citing incidents it said had "turned violent". A new day of action has been called for Tuesday.
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets since late September, when students began blocking entrances to high schools, known in France as lycées. The protesters, mostly aged 15 to 18, complain of absent teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated buildings and classrooms that cannot cope with rising temperatures. On Thursday, unions said about 71,000 people demonstrated nationwide, including 24,000 at the Bastille in Paris. The justice ministry says more than 6,800 people have been detained, 86 percent of them minors. A government source put the cost of damage at "at least 30 million euros".
The demonstrations have been largely peaceful, but some protesters have started fires, vandalised bus shelters and thrown paving stones and homemade fireworks at police. A lycée in Bordeaux was ransacked and a deputy head was beaten up in Marseille, according to reports. Police have responded with tear gas, batons and blast balls, prompting rights groups and students to accuse them of disproportionate force. Police have opened 18 internal investigations into alleged misconduct. After a 15-year-old lost a hand on Monday when a stun grenade was fired, the government suspended use of that weapon. A government source said most injured students had hurt themselves accidentally, and that the movement was showing a "marked slowdown": only about 140 of roughly 3,500 to 3,700 lycées were closed on Friday, against some 800 a week earlier.
The government has made its first concession. Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced that 3,000 substitute teachers would be deployed in the coming days at the 114 worst-affected schools. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has promised a plan by the end of October, and Economy Minister Roland Lescure said there was some room for more school funding within a tightly constrained 2027 budget. Education is due to receive the second-largest increase in the draft budget, after defence: 1.4 percent, to 90.9 billion euros.
Student leaders are unconvinced. Marius Mesnil of a student union said the government was offering "a few crumbs". Sabrine Kharbach of the Union Étudiante, which is close to the radical-left France Insoumise, said protests would continue until 10 billion euros was "on the table". A moderate union, Renouveau Lycéen, said it wanted to see concrete results. Politically, the radical left has praised the protests, while the far-right National Rally has accused the government of rewarding violence.
The unrest is described as the most serious student movement in France in many years. It comes amid anger over fuel prices, distress among farmers and a planned revival of the "yellow vest" protests on 17 October, ahead of presidential elections next spring. The government is wary of appearing to buy social peace because international markets are watching France's debt closely. It hopes half-term holidays and colder weather will ease the pressure.