Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
[Regnum] Police in France have detained 600 people amid school protests and pogroms. This was reported on October 2 by the newspaper Figaro, citing police sources.
“This Friday, 600 people were detained,” the publication writes.
According to the newspaper, demonstrations are taking place at 564 educational institutions, and their work has been disrupted.
On September 28, high school students set fire to a school during protests outside the school in Lille, France. The protests erupted over a shortage of teachers, strict school rules, including bans on cell phones and mandatory jeans, and concerns about the quality of food in the cafeterias.
On September 29, French Education Minister Edouard Geffrey announced that several students and at least 10 school staff members were injured during the protests. He emphasized that such violence cannot be justified.
Geffre highlighted several particularly violent incidents. In particular, in the Nord department in the north of the country, protesters beat up a teacher. In the Hauts-de-Seine department in the Paris suburbs, a high school principal was injured by a fireworks launcher. In Toulouse, according to the minister, several educational institution employees were attacked during the protests.
Rats have driven us crazy: French schoolchildren tired of devastation are destroying the country
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited
by Olesya Orlenko
[Regnum] A new wave of protests is raging in France. This time, the driving force is high school and university students, dissatisfied with the lack of funding for educational institutions.
Opinions among government officials and various politicians are divided. Some acknowledge the legitimacy of the protesters' demands. Security officials, however, say the events are politically motivated.
The first demonstrations by high school students took place on September 21 in Créteil, and then in the capital's suburb of Saint-Denis, from where they quickly spread to other regions and continue to this day.
Numerous videos have been posted online showing burning trash cans in front of schools and scenes of violence during confrontations between protesters and law enforcement. The French Ministry of the Interior reports more than 2,000 arrests. Approximately 300 police officers were injured.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the incident should be seen as an example of "urban violence" rather than a fight for rights.
Students, in turn, show journalists photos and videos of collapsed ceilings and rats scurrying through the cafeterias. They also complain about the lack of heating, resulting in classroom temperatures dropping below 9 degrees Celsius.
Schoolchildren are also outraged by the shortage of teaching staff. Teachers are faced with a colossal workload. As a result, the school day for both teachers and their students stretches from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Another source of dissatisfaction is the system for assigning graduates to universities, introduced in 2018. The program was conceived as a platform through which applicants, after graduating from high school, could easily apply to their desired institution.
However, the algorithms used to select candidates remain unclear. For example, high-achieving students may be rejected, while less successful applicants are admitted to prestigious universities and colleges. Furthermore, several academic studies show that the system filters out applicants with names of African origin.
Schoolchildren's discontent is evidence of the systemic crisis France is experiencing. And this opinion is shared by other groups of citizens.
On September 29, education workers joined high school students in a protest. According to trade unions, approximately 300,000 workers participated.
Firefighters expressed solidarity. By most estimates, 50% of those involved in this sector protested the lack of funding, which was one of the reasons for the devastating fires that swept across France this summer.
The student demonstrations occurred during the discussion of the 2027 budget, which envisages further cuts to public education spending. For example, the new financial plan calls for fully fee-based tuition at preparatory institutions for admission to some of the country's universities.
The relevant department understands the dangers of this approach. Therefore, Education Minister Edouard Geffre announced on October 1 that he would petition to have this measure rescinded.
The ministry also condemned the harsh actions of law enforcement officers, which resulted in the injury of several education sector employees.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs, however, claims that the unrest is being organized from outside by certain "forces pursuing political goals." Law enforcement officials report evidence that a quarter of the protesters are not students from the schools near which the protests are taking place.
A significant part of the government agrees with this opinion and condemns Jean-Luc Mélenchon's party, France Insoumise, for supporting the protests through far-left groups.
Núñez threatens criminal prosecution against members of parliament whose statements could incite an escalation of violence. Meanwhile, former Interior Minister, leader of the Republican party, and presidential candidate Bruno Retaillo believes banning Mélenchon's party would be appropriate.
This fact worries experts, who believe that such rhetoric indicates a desire by some politicians to get rid of competitors in the run-up to the presidential elections, which will take place in the spring of 2027.
Meanwhile, the protests continue unabated. On October 2, approximately 400 schools in France were closed. In Nantes, Lille, and Rouen, protesters' actions led to clashes, and school buildings were damaged.
The police are responding harshly, using guns and tear gas. Lawsuits are being filed against the actions of law enforcement. For example, one police officer broke the jaw of a 14-year-old boy, knocking out all of his upper and some of his lower teeth.
Some politicians and sociologists regret that the French security forces have lost the ability to work with society in other ways.
The government's desire to find someone to blame is understandable. After all, funding is needed to meet the protesters' demands.
France faces serious problems with this. By 2027, the national debt is expected to exceed 120%. The current budget calls for tax increases and spending freezes for most ministries. Meanwhile, planned spending on militarization and the war in Ukraine is increasing every year.
Under these conditions, one must either admit the incorrectness of one's political course, or pretend that everything is fine in the country, and that the problems are coming from a handful of provocateurs and ill-wishers from outside.
Apparently, the French authorities have chosen the second option. However, this method is impossible to repair school ceilings, turn on the heating, hire more teachers, and drive away the rats.
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