"Resources, not crumbs": students redouble the pressure on the day of most mobilizations in France
The French government promises improvements to the centers, while it works on a budget that opts for austerity
BarcelonaFrance is experiencing this Tuesday the day with the most student protests since the mobilizations began three weeks ago, with 1,800 high schools without activity and demonstrations in the country's main cities. Students are starring in what they have called the "third act" of mobilizations, coinciding with the third week of protests.
About 86,000 people have participated in the demonstrations that were held during the morning in cities like Marseille, Strasbourg, Nantes, and Lyon, according to the Ministry of the Interior. In Strasbourg, there were moments of tension and clashes between police and students, who formed a barricade with dumpsters, and in Lyon, objects were also burned, causing columns of smoke. The largest demonstration is expected to be in the afternoon in Paris: the police estimate there will be up to 40,000 attendees.
With flares and banners reading "Resources, not stumps" and "Under the books, rage," students are demonstrating again on a day of mobilizations marked by the explosion this Monday of a police grenade that left a 15-year-old student in Lens, in northern France, without his left hand and part of his forearm. Following the incident, the Socialist Party has stated that it wants to introduce a bill to ban the use of mutilating weapons, such as grenades and rubber bullets, during demonstrations involving minors.
The French League for Human Rights has denounced the use of disproportionate methods against protesters. The French government says there are 215 injured students and 85 teachers, and 715 police officers who have suffered injuries since the start of the mobilizations. According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, 10 internal investigations have been opened for allegations of police brutality.
More than 6,000 detained
Since the beginning of the protests, which started on September 17th in the outskirts of Paris and have spread throughout the country, there have been 6,100 people arrested, the vast majority of whom are minors. More than 1,800 people are being prosecuted, including 1,483 minors, according to the French Ministry of Justice, without specifying for which crimes. Also, 24 schools have been burned or looted.
Faced with what he described as "unprecedented" violence in the protests, the French Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, has assured that the government has the situation "under control," amid criticism regarding police action against protesters. "When the gatherings in front of high schools are peaceful, there is no reason for the police to intervene," said Nuñez, who added that the police will intervene if damages or violence occur.
In Paris, the socialist deputy mayor, Emmanuel Grégoire, has opened town halls to mobilized students so they can meet and organize the movement. "One cannot lament the lack of organization of this youth in struggle and, at the same time, close the institutes and the places where they hold their assemblies," said Grégoire, who asked the executive to "give priority to de-escalation" in this Tuesday's demonstrations.
The dilemma of the French government
While applying a hard line against protesters, the French government has assured that it wants to address the students' demands. The French Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has promised to address the protesters' claims, who criticize overloaded schedules, the absence of teachers, and that school buildings are deteriorated and inadequate in the face of rising temperatures.
However, the French executive is against the ropes and faces, like other European countries, a dilemma: it promises young people more resources in schools while imposing an austerity budget on the country. Amid the protests, the French executive presented a budget project for 2027 focused on savings to bring the fiscal deficit closer to the 3% limit set by the European Union.
The draft accounts foresee that the education budget will increase by 1.2 billion euros in 2027. Conversely, it cuts about 5.5 billion euros in pensions and also lowers the health budget. However, the future of the accounts is currently uncertain because the government does not have a sufficient majority in Parliament and depends on the opposition's votes.