More than 400 detained as France student protests escalate
Students have been protesting conditions and resources in high schools since last week.
More than 400 people, most of them minors, were detained in France on Tuesday amid escalating student protests at high schools nationwide, the French interior minister said.
The demonstrations, which started in Paris and have seen teenagers block their schools for days, are driven by concerns including overcrowded classrooms and a shortage of teachers.
Officials said at least 10 teachers and several students, along with 48 law enforcement officers, were injured during Tuesday’s protests. The education ministry said at least 400 schools were affected.
Photos and videos appeared to show bins set on fire and bus stops damaged by protesters.
“We're here to deliver a message,” one 16-year-old female student told the AFP news agency. “We're not here to smash everything up for no reason. We're here precisely to say that the education system is completely broken. There are 34 of us in each class, and it's just not feasible. The teachers are overworked.”
Posting on X, French Education Minister Édouard Geffray said students have the right to protest, but described reports of violence as “indefensible”.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told BFMTV that 440 people were detained, adding: “We don't have the final tally yet, but I'm told two thirds led to police custody.”
French media said protesters threw projectiles at police, who replied with batons and tear gas.
Ryad Rani, president of Union Syndicale Lycéenne, which represents students, told AFP that the French government was engaging in “repression” and accused police of using excessive force.
Asked about the police response to the protests, which has drawn criticism from several French politicians, Nuñez said it had been “carried out in an extremely proportionate manner”.
In a social media post on Tuesday evening, education minister Geffray said: “The right to demonstrate is a fundamental freedom that cannot serve as an excuse for such actions.
“To legitimise them or, in this context, to call for extending the blockades is to endanger our students as well as public employees. It is irresponsible.”
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.
On Monday, France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned that any escalation in the student protests would be “irresponsible” after 164 people were arrested.
In a post on X, Lecornu referred to reported incidents at the protests, saying: “Fireworks, fires, violence near high schools: nothing justifies endangering students, staff, or police officers.”
The student demonstrations on Tuesday took place alongside nationwide walkouts by unions representing teachers, hospital staff and civil servants, protesting issues including low pay and working conditions.
Nuñez said these protests, which reportedly drew at least 200,000 participants, were mostly peaceful.