Riot police across France have clashed with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators as student protests spread on third day. Tear gas was used in Paris and Marseille and hundreds arrested.
Official government figures put the number of demonstrators at over a quarter of a million nationwide on this third day of protest. As pupils blockaded high schools, large crowds waving flags and placards gathered in Marseille, Strasbourg and other cities.
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In Paris 56.000 took to the streets and small groups clashed with riot police at the end of a largely peaceful march.
Students have drawn attention to rundown classrooms that lack basics such as desks and chairs, become sweltering in summer without air conditioning and, in some cases, are infested with rats.
Other common complaints include staff shortages and exhausting workloads. French high school students’ compulsory classroom hours are among the highest in Europe.
Lessons suspended in 891 out of 3,700 schools
Nearly 500 people were detained Tuesday, the interior ministry said. Lessons were suspended “either completely or partially” in 891 schools out of the 3,700 across the country.
The widespread use of arrests, tear gas and riot-control weapons against teenagers is fuelling defiance and angering some parents and teachers. Some student groups called for new protests on Thursday.
More than two weeks of class boycotts and school blockades, and policing that has led to more than 6,500 arrests, mostly of minors, have become a flashpoint in the early days of the presidential election campaign.
These protests are taking place against a backdrop of tension. The Minister for Education, Édouard Geffray, has stated that since the start of the protests, 85 members of teaching staff have been injured, as have 215 pupils and 715 members of the police force.
Questioned in parliament on Tuesday about the protest movement, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu denounced “ultra violence” threatening schools.
Responding to criticism of police tactics, he pledged that any “accidents” would be investigated and described allegations that the police are racist as a “lie".
Lessons were suspended “either completely or partially” in 891 schools out of the 3,700 across the country.