French high school protests escalate as students clash with police; 1,747 arrested

Paris: Protests by high school students across France escalated on Friday, with pupils setting fires and throwing projectiles at police, who responded with tear gas as unions and student groups called for further demonstrations next week.

The protests, which began in the Paris region in September before spreading nationwide, are being driven by complaints over long school hours, inadequate facilities, overheated classrooms and staff shortages caused by teacher absences.

In La Ciotat in southern France, a teacher was sprayed with petrol and physically assaulted by two people, officials said. In Tours, a young man injured during clashes with police on Wednesday lost the use of his right eye, the city prosecutor said.

Police and protesters have traded accusations of violence. In Brest, officers used tear gas after pupils threw projectiles at security forces, while police in Aubervilliers used batons and riot shields to control demonstrators.

In Paris, fires damaged the entrances of two high schools, while in Toulouse protesters were seen administering eye drops to each other after police used tear gas.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 1,747 people had been arrested on Friday. He said police had faced attacks involving projectiles and assaults, while more than 300 police officers and gendarmes had been injured since the protests began.

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Education Minister Edouard Geffray said 735 of France’s roughly 3,700 schools had been affected in some way on Friday, a 30 per cent decline from the previous day. Three staff members were injured on Friday, compared with 31 on Thursday.

The government has condemned violence while acknowledging students’ right to protest. Geffray said an action plan would be introduced to speed up the replacement of absent teachers.

Student groups and unions, however, have urged protesters to continue demonstrations on Tuesday.

“High school students are expecting concrete measures from this government, and so far we have not received them,” said Ryad Rani, head of the USL high school union.

The government has accused the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of influencing the protests. LFI senior official Manuel Bompard rejected the accusation, saying the government was resorting to “conspiracy theories”.

Geffray said the student movement was being “held hostage by ultra-violent fringe groups”. He said at least 65 staff members, including 40 high school principals, had been injured since the protests began, while around 170 students had also been wounded.

More than 100 schools have suffered what the minister described as severe damage.

The protests come seven months before France is due to vote for a successor to President Emmanuel Macron, giving the unrest a wider political significance.

Police have also launched internal investigations following allegations of excessive force against demonstrators.