Paris, Oct 7. (dpa/GNA) – Education unions have called for further large-scale demonstrations on Thursday, as France’s school protests continue unabated, fuelling fears of wider social unrest across the country just seven months before the presidential election.
Following a national day of protest on Tuesday, which unions joined for the first time, there were also isolated blockades at French secondary schools and universities on Wednesday, including the elite Parisian institution Sciences Po. Students have been demonstrating over poor learning conditions, a shortage of substitute teachers, run-down school buildings and overcrowded timetables.
In a televised address on Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised protesting pupils better learning conditions, but ruled out meeting their demands for a major increase in education spending.
He said the government would act “pragmatically” in the months before the presidential election, adding that the upcoming budget included an additional €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) for education, making it one of the few ministries with a growing budget.
Education unions had called for €10 billion in extra spending. With France struggling to bring down its high public debt, the government is preparing an austerity budget.
To improve conditions in schools, Lecornu said there would be more substitute teachers, building repairs, revised timetables, improvements to the university admissions system and greater involvement of students in decision-making. The anger among young people did not come from nowhere, he said. “Nobody can remain indifferent to their fears.”
Young people had faced major challenges, from experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic as children to witnessing wars and climate change, while some had also seen their families struggle financially, he said.
“Despite these fears, we ask them to choose their path and look to the future with confidence. The responsibility of the government and political parties must be to restore that trust, and that begins with listening to them,” Lecornu said.
The prime minister had attended a crisis meeting with President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday, as the government sought to contain the protests.
Particularly in deprived neighbourhoods, young people feel they are treated as second-class citizens, and their concerns are not taken seriously.
The protests have grown violent. Police have been pelted with fireworks and other objects, responding by using water cannon and tear gas against the demonstrators.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, announced on Wednesday that the use of stun grenades by police during the student protests would be suspended.
Macron had called for restraint in this context during the crisis meeting on Tuesday evening, the interior minister told the broadcaster RTL. The president had urged people to “show empathy” and to explain that the police intervene in cases of serious violence.
This did not stop police from again using tear gas against protesters to clear blockades in Marseille and Paris on Wednesday. The government is also facing criticism from other political blocs, who are supporting the protesters’ demands.
Left-wing parties have accused the government of seeking to stifle the protests through repressive police action. The government and the right-wing camp has meanwhile claimed that the left-wing France Unbowed and its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, are deliberately fuelling the protests to sow chaos in the country in the run-up to the presidential election.
The government’s concern is that the protests, fuelled by high petrol prices and the cost of living, could spread to other areas, giving rise to something akin to a second Yellow Vests protest, which roiled France in 2019.
GNA