Thousands mass in France for high school protests

PARIS

Thousands of demonstrators protested under heavy police surveillance on Oct. 6 in Paris and cities across France, as unions and teachers joined high school students who for days have been demanding better conditions in protests punctuated by violent clashes.

Students have blocked the entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds since late September, complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.

In the Paris suburb of Creteil, where the protests started last month, students have piled barriers outside the Saint-Exupery high school.

“We are here to make our voice heard, all too often forgotten,” student Abderrahmane Abdelkader said on the microphone.

In the western city of Rennes, teacher Romain Dubourgn said he and other teachers were present to show support.

“With about 30 colleagues, we talked about the police brutality we’ve witnessed and decided to be there for our students if they need us,” he told AFP.

While many protests have been peaceful, some demonstrators have lit dustbin fires, destroyed bus shelters or clashed with riot police, who have responded with batons, tear gas and riot-control rounds.

The government says 215 students and 715 police officers have been injured since the start of the movement, with a 15-year-old losing a hand on Oct. 5 after, according to a police union source, he picked up a sting-ball grenade fired by riot officers.

Television images on Oct. 6 showed anti-riot police with shields pushing back crowds who had formed a human chain and blocked a road by a school in eastern Paris.

There were protests taking place in Marseille in the south, Nantes in the west and Lyon in the southeast, AFP correspondents said.