Paris streets filled with chanting teenagers and their supporters on Thursday as thousands marched through the capital in a fresh show of force for better conditions in France’s secondary schools.
Swedish activist Greta Thunberg joined a demonstration outside a secondary school in Paris.
With just six months to go before elections to replace President Emmanuel Macron, French authorities had been hoping that the protests were easing ahead of half-term holidays starting at the end of this week.
But teenagers at schools called lycees – backed by university students, teachers, unions and the far-left opposition party France Unbowed (LFI) – have said their demands have not been met.
French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon was seen among the crowd of demonstrators in Paris.
Outside the Paris city hall, demonstrators – mostly university students – gathered in the afternoon to the tune of an orchestra playing the ‘The Rebel Fanfare’ from the Star Wars movies.
“I’m expecting a surge of solidarity,” said 20-year-old Patricia, not wishing to give her surname.
“We’re not giving up the fight, whether it’s for the students who were hit with a harsh crackdown, or for denouncing police violence,” she added, referencing multiple allegations of police brutality against protesters in recent weeks.
A protester holds a placard reading “This isn’t the Republic on the Move I imagined” during a demonstration in Paris
The education ministry said 214 schools were closed. Most of these were secondary schools out of the country’s 3,700.
University student union l’Union Etudiante reported that 90% of universities had closed nationwide to show support.
Ms Thunberg, who became famous as a teen for school strikes to demand action on climate change, stood among pupils demonstrating outside a school in the capital’s largest suburb, Saint-Denis.
“Young people are not being included in the conversation. Our future is being robbed away from us,” the 23-year-old told reporters outside the Paul Eluard high school.
‘Country without a future’
Students say they intend to keep up the pressure until officials address what they describe as chronic problems: too many absent teachers, run-down buildings, overcrowded timetables and a long list of day-to-day frustrations in lycees.
The protest wave, which began late last month, has at times seen teenagers stack dumpsters and security barriers outside hundreds of schools in an effort to block access and draw attention to their demands.
Rallies were also under way in other cities.
In the western city of Nantes, thousands marched behind a banner reading “Schools without money, a country without a future”.
“I think there are a lot of us in France who are still motivated,” 16-year-old Mariolino said.
“Those who think the anger will disappear with the holidays just don’t get it.”
Greta Thunberg speaks with students as they prepare to take part in a blockade in Saint-Denis
In the northeastern city of Strasbourg, Adeline Ferier, 42, a teacher, said she was demonstrating to support her 16-year-old daughter.
“I think it’s great that young people are aware of inequalities and are getting involved,” she said.
More than 70,000 people took to the streets last Thursday in the last major event of the movement.
‘Issues that deserve time’
Most of the demonstrations in recent weeks have remained peaceful, though tensions have periodically spilled into clashes with police.
More than 6,800 people, largely minors, have been taken into police custody over the course of the protests, according to the justice ministry.
Police have opened internal investigations into 24 allegations of brutality against demonstrators.
Some 147 teaching staff members have been injured in the protests, the education ministry said.
Riot police have used tear gas and charged at protesters innumerous incidents, injuring hundreds and arresting thousands.
The government suspended the use of stun grenades last week after one teenager lost a hand.
While left-wing politicians have criticised the police, far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and others have blamed violent protesters and highlighted damage inflicted on schools and injuries to staff and police officers.
French police officers stand next to rubbish bins blocking a street during a demonstration in Paris
Authorities said fireworks fired through tubes yesterday injured two school workers in Reims, one school worker in a Paris suburb and a police officer outside a school in Marseille.
The latest demonstrations supporting the students were to be followed on Saturday by wider public rallies against the rising cost of living.
Mr Macron, speaking to reporters at a car show yesterday, urged restraint from protesters.
“These are issues that deserve time, consultations, discussion and respect,” Macron said just months before elections to replace him.
After last week’s nationwide demonstrations, the government promised that some 3,000 substitute teachers would be deployed in the coming days to replace absent staff at the 114 worst-affected high schools.
The education minister said that 35% had already been assigned.
Secondary school students are demanding a €10 billion boost for lycees.
