From school blockades to violence, what is driving the student protests in France?

Student protests erupted in the Paris region in mid-September and have since spread across the whole country, with some demonstrations degenerating into violent clashes with the police.

When pupils at a school in Créteil, in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, joined their teachers in protest to demand more resources and staff, they could not have predicted that their action would spark a nationwide movement.

The campaign began on 17 September and quickly gained momentum after videos of the protests spread on social media, pushing students across France to join the call for government action to address overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, outdated facilities and other grievances.

More than two weeks after the first protest, student unions have called on pupils to gather for a massive day of action on Tuesday. Meanwhile, hundreds of schools were fully or partially closed on Monday, after authorities determined that the necessary safety conditions were not met.

Protesters, clashes, police forces

While many demonstrations have been peaceful, others have been accompanied by unrest and clashes in the suburbs with law enforcement authorities. According to France’s interior minister, there have been more than 5,060 arrests, 87% of them involving minors. Meanwhile, more than 170 pupils, 78 school staff members and over 600 police officers have been injured during the protests.

Across France, several schools have been damaged, burned or looted. In some cases, protesters have infiltrated the demonstrations.

On Monday, a 15-year-old was reported injured by a police grenade in the northern French city of Lens, causing him to lose his hand. Public prosecutor Etienne Thieffry told the press that it had not yet been definitively determined “whether the teenager picked up the grenade” or whether it was thrown at him.

In the city of Tours in central France, the family of a 16-year-old pupil filed a complaint for police violence on Sunday, after he lost sight in his right eye in the preceding days. According to the state prosecutor, the boy’s injuries suggest he may have been hit by a police rubber bullet. In both cases, an investigation is under way.

France’s Human Rights League (LDH) has denounced a “global deviation from the rule of law and a disregard for legal frameworks” during police interventions involving school pupils.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Nathalie Tehio, the organisation’s president, said that international law is not only being “disregarded” but in fact “completely violated.”

However, Stanislas Gaudon, spokesman for Alliance Police Nationale, a major French police union, told Euronews that police remained focused on ensuring safety around school perimeters.

“When there are acts of aggression and use of force, it is a matter of determining the proportionality and legitimacy of the act.”

“If this is done against individuals who have shot at police officers or thrown acid, then the use of force to disperse is necessary. I do not like to use the term ‘repression’ or ‘suppression’ of the student protests. That is not the issue. If there are no concerns in the public space, then there is no legitimate use of force by law enforcement,” Gaudon said.

Politicians drawn into the clashes

The ongoing unrest has drawn in politicians, increasing pressure on the government to resolve the situation and respond to students’ grievances.

On Friday, Education Minister Édouard Geffray held talks with unions and school staff, together with parents’ organisations. That day, French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin declared that the violent protests had affected 735 of France’s 3,700 schools “in one way or another.”

On Sunday, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced the government’s five-point action plan. He said the government remained committed to preventing class cancellations, improving facilities in partnership with regional authorities, better organising school days, making Parcoursup more transparent (France’s university application platform), along with a general pledge to support students.

The far left has come out in strong support of the protests, with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the France Unbowed party, declaring on Thursday: “What we want is for the young people of this country to come out of this episode with their heads held high.”

His critics have accused the politician, together with his party, of inciting and manipulating young people for political gain. Meanwhile, he has declared that his party supports the movement but is not organising it and wants it to be non-violent.

Teachers’ unions: The school system is in crisis

Speaking to Euronews, Jean-Rémi Girard, a teacher and president of the national union of schools and higher education (SNALC), stressed the risks of politicising the protests.

“We must be very careful not to turn what is happening — regardless of the political side involved — into a political tool, because it is very dangerous.”

“We are the ones who are in this field and we must be looked after and protected. Because it is quite difficult to recruit staff given the lack of attractiveness of our profession; if we are not protected on top of that, it will be even harder to find teachers in the years to come.”

On Friday, a teacher was also sprayed with gasoline during a protest near a school in the south of France. A 16-year-old pupil has since been taken into police custody.

According to Girard, the grievances raised by the students are nothing new.

“We are increasingly trying to cover teacher shortages; French classrooms are among the most overcrowded in Europe; classrooms are not properly equipped during heatwaves. These are things we already know.”

“The starting point is that the school system is in crisis, and it has been for a long time,” he declared, while underlining that a minority of individuals have carried out many of the most intense episodes of violence.

“They come here to cause trouble, and I have seen this.”

“We have a group of colleagues who are outside the school to talk with the pupils, in an attempt to prevent the situation from escalating. Anything can happen and within five minutes the atmosphere can change completely. We are familiar faces to the pupils, we have an established relationship with them and we want to maintain an ongoing dialogue.”

Many parents support the protests

While some parents have advised their children to stay away from the protests, in some cases forbidding them from going to school, the Federation of Student Parents’ Councils (FCPE), one of the largest parents’ associations in France, has expressed support for the striking students.

“We support the calls for our children to study in better conditions,” Mustafa Ozcelik, vice-president of the FCPE, told Euronews.

Ozcelik stressed that many parents share their children’s concerns about overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and absences, difficulties recruiting teachers for certain subjects, the lack of school doctors and classrooms that become too hot during the summer.

“School staff, parents and ultimately the pupils themselves want to be able to return to school. Pupils are smart enough to know whether they should continue protesting or not; it is not up to us to decide. But from the moment they receive the guarantees they want, everyone will return to school,” as Euronews reports.