Students barricaded a high school in northeastern Paris with garbage bins on Thursday before police moved in with tear gas, as France’s nationwide protests showed few signs of ending. The Hélène Boucher high school has been a flashpoint for clashes in the French capital and was one of hundreds of schools disrupted by protests Thursday. Riot police gathered in side streets as students converged on the school.
Many protesters wore surgical masks or hoodies, apparently to avoid being recognized. Read moreLive: French government vows to boost teacher numbers in bid to ease school crisis At least a dozen demonstrations supporting the high school students’ movement were planned across France later in the day, including a rally at Place de la Bastille in Paris, where tear gas and a water cannon were fired at protesters. Police have made more than 6,600 arrests since late September, when students, most of them under 18, began protesting to demand more education funding, according to the interior ministry.
The education ministry said 375 schools were fully or partially closed Thursday. While the number of school closures was down compared to Tuesday, pressure is mounting on the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron. The protests against the underfunding of schools– many of them struggling with dilapidated facilities and insufficient staff– have drawn troublemakers not concerned about the aims of the protest movement as well as unions and political groups.
In a TV address, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu lamented the “violence, students and staff being attacked, police officers and gendarmes injured, schools set on fire or vandalized, thousands of hours of classes lost, not to mention threats and insults”. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading.
To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: High school student protests continue in France © France 24 He took aim at “political leaders who use this anger to conduct their electoral battles”. France goes to the polls for a presidential election in April.
At the lycée, 18-year-old university student Emma Khelil came to offer support to those at the barricades at her former high school. She told The that she’s really concerned about police violence. She also said that she had noticed insulation problems and water leaks in the school building and had even seen rats on occasion.
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