French students and police clash as school blockades turn violent
French high school students are engaging in widespread protests and blockades to demand better class sizes and improved working conditions for teachers. The demonstrations have turned violent in several cities, leading to hundreds of arrests and injuries among students, staff, and police.
Why it matters
The escalation of student unrest highlights growing dissatisfaction with the French education system and poses a significant political challenge for the current administration.
Protesting students outside the Gabriel Guist'hau secondary school in Nantes on Tuesday./Getty Images Protesting students outside the Gabriel Guist'hau secondary school in Nantes on Tuesday./Getty Images France French students and police clash as school blockades turn violent More than 200 arrested while teachers join protest over class sizes, exhausting timetables and staff shortages
Prefer the Guardian on Google French teenagers blockading their schools in protest at class sizes, teacher shortages and long timetables have clashed with police, as politicians traded verbal blows over how to respond.
Demonstrations that began in Paris last week have escalated and spread across France, with the authorities reporting the arrests of 164 people on Monday.
On Tuesday, high school pupils in Lille, northern France, set fire to dustbins and threw bottles, paving stones and other projectiles at police, who responded with teargas after protesters vandalised bus shelters and advertising hoardings.
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