French pupils' funding protests draw nationwide support before election

Tens of thousands of people marched in cities across France on Tuesday in support of school pupils who are demanding more funding for education, adding to pressure on the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron. The mobilisation showed how protests that began at a high school in the Paris region in mid-September have grown into a nationwide movement.

As pupils again blockaded high schools and continued class boycotts, the protests became a major flashpoint in the early days of the presidential election campaign. More than two weeks of unrest and policing have led to over 6,100 arrests, mostly of minors, while complaints about poor school conditions and lack of resources have found support among parents, teachers and other adults.

Large crowds carrying flags and placards gathered in Marseille, Strasbourg and other cities. The Interior Ministry said 86,000 people had joined demonstrations outside Paris on Tuesday morning, with more gathering in the capital for a protest planned later in the day. In Lille, demonstrator Lea Monimart said, "We need to listen to them. They are 17 years old; they are not completely clueless, and they know what they are talking about. It's important to show that there are adults who support them."

Felix Barney, a university student, said the police response had been disproportionate. "It doesn't have any sense to hit minors," he said. Aurelien Le Coq, a lawmaker from the far-left France Unbowed party, whose presidential candidate is strongly backing the protests, said: "Riot police, batons, rubber bullets, tear gas." He added that the violence was "absolutely unbearable".

The protests have struck a chord in a country already facing wider discontent. Frustrations go beyond immediate problems such as fuel prices rising because of the Iran war, and include broader concerns over limits on public spending, increasing poverty and wealth inequality under Macron, who cannot run for a third consecutive term. In that backdrop, pupils' complaints that shortfalls in education funding are putting their futures at risk have drawn sympathy. A handwritten placard outside a Paris school read: "You say young people are the future, so listen to them."

At the Helene Boucher high school in Paris' 20th district, protesters knocked over dustbins and bicycles to make a makeshift barricade. Like hundreds of other schools across the country, it was closed. Authorities began shutting schools last week after damage to school property and rising injuries among staff, students and police. The Education Ministry said classes were fully or partly suspended on Tuesday at 891 schools.

Amid criticism that it had ignored the protesters, the ministry launched an online portal inviting high school students to anonymously describe the problems they face at school and the changes they want. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez defended police tactics used against high school students despite a growing list of serious injuries linked to riot-control weapons. The latest case involved a 15-year-old boy who lost a hand on Monday in an incident involving a police stun grenade. Nunez said the police response had been proportionate in "almost all cases". He also said protests had at times turned into rioting and required police action, and that 715 officers had been injured.

At Helene Boucher, parents and other adults stood between protesters and police officers who were monitoring the situation. Emilia Sichili Suriam, a member of a parents' association, said: "They are our children. Teachers, parents, federations, we all share the same goal: the protection of children's rights, and it is a legitimate right to demonstrate and to make demands."

Demonstrators have raised a range of complaints, often focused on a lack of resources and opportunities for students in disadvantaged schools despite the promise of France's national motto, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". Students have pointed to rundown classrooms without basics such as desks and chairs, classrooms that become extremely hot in summer without air conditioning and, in some cases, rat infestations. Other common complaints include staff shortages and heavy workloads, with compulsory classroom hours for French high school students among the highest in Europe. Overall, Tuesday's protests underlined how a movement that began inside schools has expanded into a wider national issue over education, policing and public spending.