PARIS — More than 400 people, mostly minors, were detained in France on Tuesday as student protests over overcrowded classes and teacher shortages spread across high schools, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said, BBC News reported.
The education ministry said at least 400 of France’s roughly 3,700 lycées were affected. Demonstrations that began last week in the Paris region expanded nationwide; protesters burned rubbish bins and threw bottles and paving stones at police in cities including Lille, Bordeaux, Rennes, Nantes, Lyon and Marseille. Officials said at least 10 teachers and several students, as well as 48 law enforcement officers, were injured. Nuñez told BFMTV that about two-thirds of those detained were placed in police custody.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray said students have the right to protest but called violence “indefensible.” A 16-year-old student told AFP classes of 34 were “just not feasible” and teachers were overworked. The unrest coincided with public-sector strikes over planned budget cuts, Al Jazeera reported, adding pressure on President Emmanuel Macron ahead of next year’s presidential election.
Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera
—
