French students blockade high schools as government pledges response to grievances

Paris, France. French teenagers blockaded some high schools and prepared to rally again on Thursday after the government promised to address teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings without providing specific details. The protest movement, now in its third week, has resulted in hundreds of arrests and dozens of injuries.

School closures and planned rallies

The education ministry said 224 high schools were closed on Thursday morning, while 151 were partially reopening after closures. Closures were down 30% compared with Wednesday morning, and 94% of high schools were either fully or partially open.

Near Helene Boucher high school in Paris’s predominantly working-class 20th arrondissement, protesters erected a barricade of rubbish bins, chanted and held up banners. Scuffles broke out with police.

Student rallies backed by teachers and trade unions were planned, including at Paris’s Place de la Bastille, two days after hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets nationwide.

Attendance at Thursday’s gatherings will test the government’s efforts to defuse the crisis. Unions are already planning a larger day of protests on October 17.

Government promises responses by late October

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu addressed the nation late on Wednesday, promising “concrete, quick and fully funded responses” by late October, but offering no specifics.

An online consultation platform established for high-school students to express their frustrations and submit demands received more than 43,000 responses in its first two days.

The protests have exposed deep tensions between public demands for investment in deteriorating public services and a cash-strapped government facing pressure from bond markets to reduce its debt and deficit.

Debate over policing and political response

The arrests and injuries have prompted heated debate over riot police’s use of force against teenagers. On Wednesday, the government suspended the use of stun grenades in policing the protests.

With six months remaining before an election to replace President Emmanuel Macron following the end of his second consecutive presidential term, politicians’ responses to the student protests have been sharply polarised.