France Faces Nationwide School Protests as Thousands Arrested
Thousands of young people have been arrested in France as nationwide school protests over the education system continue, with organisers calling for another day of action. Clashes have erupted in cities including Lyon and Rennes, and a 15-year-old lost a hand in an apparent police stun grenade incident.
France is bracing for another nationwide day of action after thousands of young people were arrested during continuing school protests over the country's education system. Organisers have called for fresh demonstrations, extending a movement that began in low-income banlieues and has grown into what observers describe as the biggest youth protest wave in decades.
Clashes with police have been reported in cities including Lyon and Rennes, while Paris is preparing for a main march. In the capital, hundreds of teenagers gathered before dawn outside the Lycée Sophie-Germain, dragging wheelie bins, metal barriers and shopping trolleys to build a barricade at the school entrance. Climbing atop the piles of bins, pupils held banners demanding more funding and greater equality in French schools, while also protesting against riot police accused by human rights groups of using disproportionate force against children.
The unrest has been marked by a growing list of serious injuries to young protesters, which critics blame on police riot-control weapons. The latest case involved a 15-year-old who lost a hand, apparently torn off by a police stun grenade. France's interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, has defended the government's muscular response to the protests despite the mounting reports of gruesome injuries.
Investigations are under way into allegations of police brutality, adding a further layer of tension to a movement that has already spread far beyond its initial base. What started in the banlieues has now reached central Paris and other major cities, drawing in secondary school pupils who say they are fighting for the future of public education.
The protests reflect deep frustrations over funding shortfalls and inequality in the French school system, but they have also become a focal point for anger at the state's policing tactics. The decision by organisers to call another day of action suggests the movement shows no sign of fading, with students and authorities locked in an increasingly confrontational standoff.
With Paris bracing for its main march and clashes already reported elsewhere, the coming hours will test the government's handling of a youth mobilisation that has captured national attention. The interior minister's defence of police conduct has done little to calm critics, and the injury toll continues to fuel demands for accountability.
The scale of arrests and the intensity of the clashes underline how quickly the school protests have escalated from local grievances into a nationwide challenge. For now, all eyes are on whether the latest day of action will bring further confrontations or open a path toward dialogue.
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