Hundreds of schools in France remained fully or partly closed on Monday as teenagers continued to blockade buildings and the government struggled to contain the biggest youth protest movement in years. A 15-year-old protesting against what the demonstrators say are France’s dilapidated and understaffed schools had his hand blown off on Monday in the northern town of Lens, the local prefect François-Xavier Lauch said. A local newspaper, La Voix du Nord, reported that the teenager lost his hand after picking up a police stun grenade.
Lauch said an investigation into the incident had been opened. The French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, had earlier attempted to calm the protests by accepting schoolchildren’s grievances as “legitimate” and saying the government must listen. Lecornu ordered ministers to tackle the students’ five major demands.
These include organising the replacement of absent teachers, in recognition that pupils in some areas miss months of teaching because of staff absences – even in key exam years. Lecornu also called for a review of France’s lengthy school days, which are among the longest in Europe. The government will also look at repairs to dilapidated school buildings.
Children on blockades across France have described water leaking into classrooms during class, cockroaches, collapsing ceilings and unbearable heat in summer. Lecornu said ministers must come up with proposals by the end of the month. Sophie Binet, the head of the leftwing CGT trade union, said the government was late in offering to tackle the schoolchildren’s demands.
She said the number of absent teachers who were not replaced had doubled in 10 years and class sizes were at a record high. She called for the government to instead stop all budget cuts as well as cuts to teachers’ positions. Student unions have called for a national day of protest on Tuesday with more schools expected to be barricaded.
Thousands of trade unionists, teachers, public sector workers and parents’ groups are expected to join marches of support in cities and towns across France. Binet said trade unionists would march to ensure there was no violence on the edge of any protests on Tuesday, as she criticised heavy policing. University students continued to support the school protests on Monday, with up to 40 university buildings blockaded across France.
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