French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has condemned violence surrounding nationwide school protests.
Speaking in the National Assembly, warned lawmakers that there could be “no room for tolerance of violence” as demonstrations over worsening education conditions continue to spread.
He said burning a high school would not improve the condition of school buildings, while attacking teachers would do nothing to address the shortage of staff.
“Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings,” and “lynching a teacher does not help replace teachers,” he said quoted by Le Figaro.
His remarks came as the protests entered another major day of , with students, teachers, parents and trade unions taking to the streets in cities across France.
The movement, which began in the region in September, has grown into a national campaign over teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, long school hours and deteriorating school buildings.
Students have also raised concerns about the pressure surrounding university admissions and the Parcoursup system, which they say adds to stress and . The protests began after students at a school in Creteil joined teachers demanding more resources and staff, with the action quickly spreading through to schools elsewhere in the country.
The scale of Tuesday’s mobilisation has been substantial. France’s interior ministry said 86,000 people had joined demonstrations by earlier in the day, while as many as 40,000 more were expected to attend the main march in Paris. Teaching was disrupted at hundreds of schools, with the education ministry reporting 891 affected lycees at one stage on Tuesday.
But the anger over education has increasingly been accompanied by confrontations with police.
Lecornu told MPs that 85 education staff and 215 students had been injured since the movement began, while 715 police officers and gendarmes had also been hurt. The figures were released by the prime minister’s office and reported by French media.
Some demonstrations have remained peaceful. Others have involved burning bins, damage to public property and clashes with riot police, who have used , batons and other crowd-control measures. More than 6,000 people have been arrested since the protests began, according to authorities, with most of those detained being minors.
The government has also faced criticism over the police response. Amnesty International and other rights groups have raised concerns about the use of force, while France’s police watchdog has opened multiple into alleged misconduct.
The government has promised action on teacher shortages and school infrastructure and has opened an online platform for students to submit their concerns. But the protests show that many young people want more than assurances.
For now, Lecornu is trying to separate those demands from the violence around some demonstrations, urging protesters to pursue their grievances through peaceful and democratic means.
