Riots erupt across French cities

Riot police clashed with high school students in cities across France on Friday. Tear gas clouded Strasbourg, fireworks targeted police in Marseille, and rubbish bins burned in Rennes.

Students demand better classroom conditions

High school students are protesting over overcrowding, teacher shortages and dilapidated buildings. One fifteen-year-old told Reuters: We are thirty-five per class, we don't have enough chairs in classrooms.

“We are 35 per class, we don't have enough chairs in classrooms”

Government cuts fuel the unrest

President Emmanuel Macron's government faces deep unpopularity six months before next year's presidential election. Planned budget cuts exacerbate the funding crisis in education, fuelling student discontent.

Education budget gets below-inflation increase

Under the draft two thousand twenty-seven budget, the education budget is set to increase by below-inflation one point seven percent to sixty-five point fifty-three billion euros, excluding teacher pensions.

Two thousand arrested as schools close

Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said police arrested two thousand people, most of them teenagers, since protests began. Four hundred high schools, roughly one in ten, were closed on Friday due to unrest.

Rights groups condemn police tactics

Students and rights groups accused police of using heavy-handed tactics against minors, including batons, tear gas and non-lethal flash-ball guns. The interior ministry opened three investigations into police violence.

“Students must be protected, not beaten with batons”