French school protests spread to universities as blockades intensify

PARIS — High school protests in France spread to universities on Thursday as students demanding more funding, smaller classes and the replacement of absent teachers continued blockades across the country.Around 30 university campuses were blocked on Thursday morning, the Union Étudiante said, including sites in Paris, Strasbourg, Marseille, Lyon, Reims, Poitiers and Nanterre.The government has announced a new consultation platform for high school students, after days of protests that have left students and police injured.Since last week, students have staged protests outside schools over grievances ranging from timetables, class sizes and a shortage of teachers to overheated classrooms during this year’s heatwaves.The movement began in high schoolshad spread to 356 schools across the country by Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said.The movement in the lycées, attended by students aged 15 to 18 for their final three years of secondary education in France, has angered the government.The protests started in the Île-de-France region around Paris but have now spread to other cities nationwide.On Thursday, hundreds of pupils in Strasbourg blocked traffic and a tram line outside Couffignal high school and set rubbish containers on fire. In Saint-Denis, north of Paris, clashes broke out between young people and police, with mortar fireworks and tear gas used.In Nantes, a fire broke out at Nelson Mandela high school after a rubbish-bin fire spread to the building, students told French daily Le Parisien.On Wednesday, 625 people were detained during high school blockades, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, noting an “expansion of the movement” and condemning an “escalation of violence” outside certain schools.At least 83 police officers and gendarmes were wounded during the protests on Wednesday, which affected a total of 356 schools, he added.The minister slammed the “targeting of law enforcement officers, the throwing of projectiles, acts of violence, verbal abuse, attempted arson and what amounts…to urban violence.”Since the start of the unrest last week, 119 students and staff members have been injured, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said.The cities worst affected included Paris, Bordeaux in the southwest and Lyon in the southeast, and the northern city of Lille where police again used tear gas in clashes, AFP correspondents said.”It is imperative that our students be able to return to class, especially those who are currently prevented from doing so,” Geffray said.Speaking in Madrid, President Emmanuel Macron slammed hard-left politicians he accused of “legitimising violence.””We don’t condone vandalism; we came to defend our rights because we have horrendous schedules, we work 8:00 am to 6:00 pm and that’s not right,” Juan, from the Montbello high school in the northern city of Lille which had been blockaded over the last days, told AFP.