Riot police clash with students as education protests rage in France

Riot police have clashed with protesters as thousands of students demonstrating over education standards disrupted more than 560 schools in France on Friday.

Key points

• Nelson Mandela high school in Nantes had suffered more than €2m (£1.7m) damage, according to the regional administration.
• French Education Minister Édouard Geffray asserted on Friday that the movement had been hijacked by non-students.
• At the Claude Monet school in southern Paris, 53-year-old Anya was looking for her son.
• The protests began last week in Paris and have spread nationwide, with cities including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille affected.
• On Friday, a 17-year-old was arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide after protests in Belfort, north-eastern France, where a police officer was targeted.

Fires have burned in the streets as high school pupils and others objected to a lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and run-down buildings.

Meanwhile, the protests began last week in Paris and have spread nationwide, with cities including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille affected.

French justice minister Gerald Darmanin remarked things had "gone from high-school student demonstrations to a public order disturbance". School protests send shivers down French government's spine.

At least 65 staff members have been injured in the unrest, the education ministry remarked.

In the Paris suburb of Pantin police charged at protesters and created arrests after projectiles where thrown at officers.

Meanwhile, in Strasbourg tear gas was deployed as police feared conditions would become more hostile, according to the Reuters news agency.

Rubbish bins have additionally been set on fire in Rennes and Paris.

"As far as we're concerned, we've won – our school is closed this morning, " Lola, a 16-year-old protester, informed the AFP news agency on Friday. She remarked police actions had produced things worse.

"It makes us even angrier – the police have no right to hit us or use tear gas on us, " she continued.

In Marseille, fireworks were thrown at police and teachers were additionally inadvertently splashed with petrol at a school there, office-holders noted.

"Significant damage" had been done to school facilities, the education ministry remarked.

For context, the blockades and protests began last week before spreading to hundreds of schools nationwide.

Students say school hours are too long, classrooms too hot and too plenty of members of staff are off work.

It comes at a crucial time for French President Emmanuel Macron, six months before next year's presidential election.

Budget cuts planned, which will impact on education funding, have infuriated the young protesters.

He informed French broadcaster BFMTV teachers had stated "the people in front of me were not my students".

Parents have additionally been worried that their children have become caught up in a wave of violence and unrest.

"We banned him from coming. I hope he isn't here, but he did leave the house, so, " she informed AFP. "We're afraid the situation might escalate."

Darmanin, the justice minister, remarked prosecutors had been asked to hold parents liable for damage caused by their children and "pay for repairs".

He remarked since the start of the movement, concerning 2, 000 individuals – most of who were children – had been taken into custody. Plenty of French unions have given their backing to the protesting students.

Education union SNEP-FSU, public services union SNUEP-FSU and Solidaires have all pressed members to backing them.

Solidaires Trade Union Federation remarked in an official note: Let's not let them fire on our children. Secondary school pupils have the freedom of assembly, association and demonstration.

In short, riot police clash with students as education protests rage in France is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.