PARIS — France is braced for nationwide demonstrations on Tuesday after union leaders vowed to join high school students who have spent two weeks blockading their schools over understaffing, overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings.The planned demonstrations are a litmus test of the longevity of a movement that began last month in a single school in the suburbs of Paris and quickly spread to hundreds of schools across the country. Some demonstrators have barricaded school doors, set buildings on fire and hurled fireworks at police officers, though most protests have been peaceful.Roughly 6,000 people have been arrested since the protests began and about 270 high school students and school staff have been injured, as well as nearly 470 police officers.One student had his hand blown off during a confrontation on Monday, while another was reportedly struck in the head by a tear gas grenade last week.France’s prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said the government had announced measures to address their demands, but the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL), a major organiser of the protests, said the government had offered “nothing concrete”.The organisation called on people to join their mobilisation on Tuesday in the face of “this political deadlock and what we describe as unprecedented repression of the movement”.Some other organisations have also shown their support for the students, with the teachers’ union SNES-FSU urging its members to join Tuesday’s protest.The radical-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon described the protests as the “most powerful high school and university student youth movement” since 1968, a year of major unrest, which saw millions of workers go on strike.On Sunday, Lecornu announced a series of measures to “address the difficulties faced by secondary school students and education staff”, promising “visible changes” in schools.However, he also said: “We will make no concessions to violence. We stand by students and staff who have been assaulted, as well as police officers and gendarmes who have been injured.”The unrest has not only seen schools blockaded, but also rubbish bins set on fire. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 24 schools had been “burned and ransacked” since the start of the protests.Violent clashes between students and the police have led to some serious injuries throughout the course of the protests so far.On Monday, a 15-year-old boy’s hand was blown off during a confrontation near a school in the northern city of Lens. The student was transferred to a nearby hospital and his injury is not life-threatening, according to officials.Last week, Eden, 14, was badly hurt in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône after reportedly being struck on the head by a tear gas grenade.The student suffered “a double jaw fracture” and had to undergo “extremely major surgery”, according to his lawyer.The USL has accused police of using excessive force against the protesters. Responding to this allegation last week, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said the demonstrations had been policed in “an extremely proportionate manner”.While France’s next presidential election is still months away, the protests and the response by French authorities have been heavily politicised.The government and hard-right politicians have blamed the hard left for fuelling the protests. Lecornu said LFI was being “irresponsible” in calling for the movement to expand.The leader of the hard-right National Rally, Marine Le Pen, has also criticised the left for its response.”This is no longer about high school student protests. It is about riots organised by professionals and overseen by deputies from La France Insoumise,” she said, calling for a new anti-rioting law to be passed.Meanwhile, Mélenchon, the LFI’s party’s presidential candidate, has been blaming the police for “abuses of power”, calling on people to take to the streets to “protect the youth demonstrations”.The left-wing mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, condemned the “unacceptable violence” in his city. While young people were “legitimately concerned” about their future and public services, they must express themselves calmly, he said.The protests come amid efforts by the French government to pass a new budget that would reduce spending on parts of France’s welfare system. The push to save money has been compounded by the rising interest payments that France must now make to its creditors, payments that are now almost as high as during the post-2008 financial crisis.
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