France's school protests are about more than broken classrooms

Share Save Add as preferred on Google Nick Beake Europe correspondent Getty Images Hundreds of thousands of students have protested across France since the end of last month As dustbins burn and students chant "everyone hates the police" in the French city of Lille, one teenager explains why he and his friends have taken to the streets.

"There aren't even enough chairs. We have to go and find some at the start of every lesson," the 16-year-old, who did not want to give his name, says of his school.

"We've got 50 minutes to eat at lunchtime but there are 2,000 of us that need to get through the canteen."

He is one of hundreds of thousands of students who have protested across France since the end of last month over staff shortages and dilapidated facilities in the country's lycées, secondary schools attended by 15 to 18-year-olds.