French PM warns against escalation of school protests after 164 arrested
Students are protesting over issues such as overcrowded classes, but the prime minister has condemned reports of violence.
French PM warns against escalation of school protests after 164 arrested
France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has cautioned that any further escalation in the country's ongoing student protests would be "irresponsible", after 164 people were arrested on Monday.
The demonstrations, which began in Paris and have seen teenagers blockading their schools for days, are driven by concerns including overcrowded classes and teacher shortages.
In a post on X, Lecornu pointed to reported incidents at the protests, saying: "Fireworks, fires, violence near high schools: nothing justifies endangering students, staff, or police officers."
However, a French union representing the interests of high school students said the protests were a "legitimate response" to the conditions they face.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on Monday that 12 members of the security forces, 12 students and three school staff were injured, while 180 schools were affected.
He gave no further details about those arrested.
The movement at French lycées, the equivalent of sixth form in the UK or high school in the US, began last week in the Île-de-France region around Paris.
Vandalism was reported, along with fireworks being directed at police, and the protests have since spread to other parts of France.
According to the AFP news agency, four high schools were reportedly blockaded in the southern regions of Alpes-Maritimes and Var. Protests have also been reported in Marseille, the northern Lille area and Sedan in the north-eastern Ardennes.
The Union Syndicale Lycéenne, which represents students, defended the protests in a social media post.
"Lack of teachers and staff, dilapidated schools, overcrowded schedules and classes, stress caused by Parcoursup [the web platform used in France for students to apply to the first year of higher education]... These issues are by no means inevitable, but simply the result of 10 years of Macron's policies and the lack of resources in the national education system," it said.
It urged students to blockade schools on Tuesday in defence of "their rights and against budget austerity".
On the same day, unions representing teachers, hospital staff and civil servants also called for a day of walkouts to protest issues including low wages and working conditions.
Responding to the student movement, Lecornu said "the difficulties of high schools must be heard and addressed", but that "violence must be condemned unequivocally, and its perpetrators must answer for their actions".
The prime minister also accused the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of encouraging students to broaden the movement.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, LFI's leader, blamed the Lecornu government for having "ordered the crackdown" on the protest, adding that the high school students involved were "harmless".
But Nuñez said the demonstrations and blockades were "not very typical protest movements".
"It is much more like urban violence, with a number of individuals who were masked, equipped with fireworks in tubes, equipped with projectiles, who clearly wanted to confront the internal security forces," he said.
"It wasn't about making demands; it was really violence in its purest form."
Since the protests began, several incidents involving violence between students and police officers have been reported.
In one incident, a police officer reportedly fired a round from a grenade launcher used for crowd control, injuring a high school student, according to France's BFMTV.
The broadcaster added that investigations have been launched into these incidents.