Tens of thousands of people took to the streets across France on Tuesday as unions and teachers joined forces with high school students who have been protesting for days to demand better learning conditions. The marches unfolded as violence broke out in some areas.
According to the French Interior Ministry, 86,000 people had joined demonstrations nationwide by early Tuesday. The General Confederation of Labour (CGT) put the figure at 260,000.
Since late September, students have blockaded the entrances to hundreds of high schools, highlighting teacher shortages, overloaded timetables, run-down classrooms and buildings unable to cope with rising temperatures.
Most protests were peaceful, but some demonstrators set fires, destroyed bus shelters or clashed with riot police. Officers responded with batons, tear gas and crowd-control munitions.
Casualties and investigations
The government said 215 students and 715 police officers had been injured since the movement began. Unions, human rights groups and students accuse the authorities of excessive force.
On Monday, a 15-year-old schoolboy in the northern town of Lens lost a hand to a stun grenade fired by riot police.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said late Monday that police had opened 10 internal investigations into allegations of excessive force since the protests erupted.
According to the Education Ministry, 24 schools have been burned or ransacked since the movement began. More than 5,000 people, 87% of them minors, have been arrested.
The office of Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said 85 education staff had also been injured.
The government is also pushing a bill that would require those who damage public property to pay for repairs themselves rather than using state funds.
