French basketball star Victor Wembanyama on Thursday expressed his support for French high school students protesting over facilities and teaching conditions in schools.
According to the French Interior Ministry, around 71,500 people joined protests during the day, including 24,500 at the main march in Paris, centered around the Place de la Bastille.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday evening, Wembanyama said: "These are systemic inequalities – problems so deeply rooted that I am genuinely glad high school students and young people in general are speaking out."
"I hear you, I support you, and I hope everyone out there will do the same."
The San Antonio Spurs player had earlier replied "I would love to" when a fan suggested on an Instagram post that he join the French teenagers in protest.
At the press conference, Wembanyama added: "I care deeply. I mean that sincerely. Not long ago I was in that same situation myself."
"I had the chance to escape this system, to escape these problems. But that was an opportunity, a stroke of luck. So I want to show my support."
"This is not entirely unfamiliar to me. I went to high school in Nanterre, which at the time was already a stronghold of the blockades," he said, referring to student-led school blockades.
Concerns over public schools have helped fuel some of France's largest protests in decades. The demonstrations began last month at high schools in the poor northern suburbs of Paris, where anger over teacher absences and rapidly deteriorating facilities quickly spread into a nationwide movement against inequality, weak public spending and declining education quality.
