French Students Draw 71,500 to Bastille Protests, Clashing With Police Over School Conditions
Updated
Updated · Euronews · Oct 8
French Students Draw 71,500 to Bastille Protests, Clashing With Police Over School Conditions
3 articles · Updated · Euronews · Oct 8
Summary
71,500 people joined Thursday’s student-led protests across France, including 24,500 in Paris, where a Bastille rally ended with police firing tear gas and a water cannon.
The movement, which began in Paris suburbs on Sept. 17, has widened from school blockades into a national campaign over long school days, overcrowding, teacher absences and demands for more education funding.
375 schools were fully or partly closed and about 55,000 people protested outside schools, while authorities said violence on the margins of mostly peaceful marches had increased.
6,600 arrests have been made since late September, according to the Interior Ministry, as unions plan another protest-and-strike day on Oct. 13 and a further mass mobilisation on Oct. 17.
40,000 responses have already been logged in the Education Ministry’s new online consultation, but many students at Bastille said they were unaware of it, underscoring the gap between government outreach and the street movement.