PARIS: Some 130 French high schools remained closed on Monday, the education ministry said, with authorities hoping the protest movement that has rocked the nation in recent weeks would ease ahead of half-term holidays. In an incident seemingly unrelated to the protests, in the southern town of Aubagne near Marseille police arrested a 14-year-old on Monday after a middle school headmaster and a teacher were shot with a hunting rifle.
Students have blocked entrances to hundreds of lycees — high schools for children aged 15 to 18 — in recent weeks, with squads of riot police deployed and occasionally violent clashes resulting. Piling dumpsters, bins and barriers in front of their schools, or carrying often humorous signs at protests, pupils have complained about absent teachers, overloaded timetables, overcrowded classes and dilapidated classrooms, among other grievances.
Pupils were blocking the entrances of schools in Paris, the southern cities of Marseille and Toulouse and the western city of Rennes, reporters saw. A few dozen protested outside a high school in central Marseille. "We stand in solidarity with the high schools that are worse off. We need real measures and proper dialogue, not repression," said 16-year-old pupil Emeline. Student rallies have been planned for Tuesday, ahead of wider public demonstrations against the rising cost of living that are expected on Saturday.
President Emmanuel Macron told reporters during a visit to the Paris Motor Show that the pupils' grievances would take time to address and urged restraint from protesters. "These are issues that deserve time, consultation, discussion, and respect," Macron said. "This also requires that it be done calmly, in an orderly way, and with respect for both people and property."
The education ministry said 96.5 per cent of France's 3,700 lycees remained open on Monday. "The number of school closures is falling," with 96.5 per cent of schools open on Monday, yet "the violence is intensifying", it said. The ministry said some eight members of teaching staff had been injured on Monday morning, mostly in the Paris region and cities of Bordeaux and Lyon, it said.
These incidents did not include the shooting in Aubagne, which police said did not appear to be linked to the student protest movement. Most of the demonstrations in recent weeks have been peaceful, but some protesters have started fires and vandalised bus shelters.
In response, police have used tear gas, batons and blast balls, leading to accusations from rights groups and students of a disproportionate use of force. The government last week promised some 3,000 substitute teachers would be deployed in the coming days to replace absent staff at the 114 worst-affected high schools.
A government spokeswoman on Monday said they had started to be assigned. The police have opened internal investigations into 24 allegations of brutality against demonstrators since the protest movement began last month. More than 6,800 people — largely minors — have been taken into police custody, the justice ministry says. — AFP
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