Hundreds of Schools Closed Across France as Students Demand More Education Funding

Por Julia Conley — Common Dreams

Left-wing French political leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said Friday that labor unions across the country were planning to strike next week alongside students who have been protesting poor school conditions and teacher shortages, as demonstrators reported unwarranted force by the police and the protests devolved into violence in parts of France.

The French justice minister said Friday that “an active and violent minority” of demonstrators has pushed widening protests against poor education funding into chaos, with fires being set at some schools, dozens of teachers an principals injured, and a police officer in northeastern France reportedly attacked by a mob.

Meanwhile, one student outside Lycée Voltaire in Paris held a sign that read, “School is a right, not a privilege,” and a 17-year-old identified as Yves by The Guardian said he and his classmates were “totally pacifist” as they peacefully blocked the entrance to the school, joined by some of their teachers.

“The atmosphere on this barricade is generally very calm,” Yves said. “But there have been other people from outside school who have come past and tried to set fire to things, so we’ve tried to move the bins to stop that.”

The high school is one of many that students say have suffered from teacher shortages and neglect by the government, with students struggling to learn in classrooms packed with 40 children or more. Some protesters reported dilapidated school buildings in the European Union’s second-largest economy, inequality in which a child’s “social background” decides their success in school, excessively long school days that have done nothing to improve international rankings, and infrastructure that is ill-equipped for the soaring temperatures the climate emergency brought this summer.

“It was unbearable sitting exams in 35°C-40°C heat, even the teachers said those were impossible conditions,” a 19-year-old student named Sofiane told The Guardian. Sofiane also expressed concerns that the government may end food assistance for low-income students.

On Thursday, the French government announced spending cuts in its 2027 budget.

“The education budget is being cut to shreds while so much extra funding is being put into the army,” a student named Sophia told The Guardian.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin told RTL Radio that officials are “not entirely sure” that protesters who have set fires to schools and perpetrated violence in the protests, which began last month in Paris before spreading across the country, “are even high school students themselves.”

“We have gone from high school student demonstrations to a public order disturbance,” said Darmanin.

Authorities said more than 560 schools were closed Friday due to the unrest, and Darmanin said police have made about 2,000 arrests of young people.

In Marseille, prosecutors said Thursday that two teachers had been assaulted by students who poured gasoline on them, but The Guardian reported Friday that the teachers had been inadvertently hit with the gasoline when a student was throwing it into a trash can.

At least two high schools in Paris were damaged by fire on Friday morning.

But Mélenchon , a presidential candidate and the leader of the left-wing party France Unbowed, suggested that demands for order from his opponent, the far-right National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, were disingenuous.

” Ms. Le Pen calls for the restoration of order,” said Mélenchon . “What order is she talking about?! The daily disorder that our youth experience? Our adversaries live in a parallel reality.”

Students on Friday accused police of using tear gas to disperse protests, and an investigation was being conducted into a police officer’s alleged beating of a 14-year-old boy in Val d’Oise, outside Paris. The boy suffered severe injuries to his mouth and jaw. The officer also reportedly launched a rubber bullet, and the family’s lawyer said the boy had thought he was “going to die.”

“The government has opted for a crude and dangerous escalation,” said Mélenchon on Friday.

On Thursday, one student in Saint-Denis held a sign that read, “Can we explain ourselves without being tear-gassed?”

Mélenchon said a strike in solidarity with the students by French labor unions was “taking shape for October 6, thanks to the decisive action of the trade union confederations.”

” Everywhere, delegations of workers are forming to ensure the protection of young people,” he said. “The government must stop playing at violence and festering. And completely revise its ‘education’ copy in the budget!”

” Join the October 6 demonstrations by wearing a white armband!” Mélenchon urged workers. “Step in to protect our youth!”

Fonte: Common Dreams