PARIS: French teenagers blockaded some high schools and marched through cities on Thursday as the government promised to address their grievances about teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings but gave few specific details. The protest movement, now into its third week, has exposed deep tensions in France between popular demands for investments in deteriorating public services and a cash-strapped government under pressure from bond markets to reduce its debt and deficit.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray said he was launching an emergency plan to ensure absent teachers are replaced, while heavy school timetables were also under review. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu pledged late on Wednesday that the government would present "concrete, quick and fully funded responses" to the protests by late October, without offering specifics.
Student protest leaders said that was not good enough and called for further marches next Tuesday. "Our demands must be heard. Yesterday, Mr Lecornu gave us a lot of hot air," said Ryad Rani, leader of one of the student unions.
According to an Elabe poll for BFM TV, 72 per cent of French people think the students' demands are legitimate, but 55 per cent of them think the protests should stop. — Reuters
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