Students rise up in France: 440 people arrested, schools are being set on fire

Students rebel in France: 440 people detained, schools are being set on fire

In France, student protests against academic workloads are spreading to more and more cities, turning into vandalism and clashes with the police, BBC reports.

On October 1, in Paris, attackers poured gasoline on a school principal and set fire to at least two schools.

Marseille police reported that on Thursday, hundreds of youths set fire to a fire truck that had arrived to extinguish a fire at the Saint-Exupéry Lycée. According to the prosecutor's office, the principal of another lycée in Marseille, Victor Hugo, was attacked and injured.

In the city of Nantes in western France, protesters also set fire to a school, completely destroying a school corridor.

In Lille, in the north of the country, students built barricades out of trash containers and set them on fire, while in Strasbourg, trash containers near a school were also set on fire. In Dijon, police used tear gas to disperse protesters.

Last week, nationwide school protests began against the shortage of teachers and classrooms, poor school conditions, and heavy student workloads. In recent days, university students have also joined these actions. According to French authorities, the youth protests have turned into vandalism and violent clashes with the police. In turn, students accuse the police of violence.

According to the French Ministry of the Interior, 440 people have been arrested so far, most of them minors, and 48 law enforcement officers have been injured.

According to the Ministry of Education, the protests or related unrest have affected more than 400 schools across the country.

Following a meeting, authorities stated that the protests had turned into riots. Some schools will switch to remote learning. The Ministry of Justice has been tasked with identifying and prosecuting those responsible for the incidents.