French PM warns against escalation of school protests after 164 arrested

After the arrests of 164 individuals on Monday, france's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has cautioned that any escalation in the country's current wave of student protests would be "irresponsible".

Key points

• While 180 schools were affected, interior Minister Laurent Nuñez remarked 12 members of the security forces, 12 students and three school staff were injured on Monday.
• According to the AFP news agency, four high schools were reportedly blockaded in the southern regions of Alpes-Maritimes and Var.
• Jean-Luc Mélenchon, LFI's leader, blamed the Lecornu administration for having "ordered the crackdown" on the protest, adding that the high school students taking part were "harmless".
• The prime minister additionally accused the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of urging students to expand the movement.
• The demonstrations, which began in Paris and have seen teenagers blockading their schools for days, stem from matters including overcrowded classes and teacher shortages.

For context, the demonstrations, which began in Paris and have seen teenagers blockading their schools for days, stem from matters including overcrowded classes and teacher shortages.

Lecornu cited documented incidents at protests in a post on X, saying: "Fireworks, fires, violence near high schools: nothing justifies endangering students, staff, or police officers."

But a French union that defends the interests of high school students remarked the protests were a "legitimate response" to the conditions they face.

He did not provide further details on those who had been arrested.

In practice, the movement at French lycées, equivalent to sixth form in the UK or high school in the US, began last week in the Île-de-France region around Paris.

Incidents of vandalism were documented, along with fireworks being aimed at police, and the protests have now spread to other regions in France.

According to the AFP news agency, four high schools were reportedly blockaded in the southern regions of Alpes-Maritimes and Var. Protests have additionally been noted in Marseille, the northern Lille area and Sedan in the north-eastern Ardennes.

For context, the Union Syndicale Lycéenne. It represents students, defended the protests in a post on social media.

"Lack of teachers and staff, dilapidated schools, overcrowded schedules and classes, stress caused by Parcoursup [the web platform applied in France for students to apply to the first year of higher education]. These problems are by no means inevitable, but simply the result of 10 years of Macron's policies and the lack of resources in the national education system, " it stated.

It called on students to blockade schools on Tuesday in defence of "their rights and against budget austerity".

On the same day, unions representing teachers, hospital staff and civil servants additionally called on a day of walkouts to protest against problems including low wages and working conditions.

In response to the student movement, Lecornu remarked "the difficulties of high schools must be heard and addressed", but that "violence must be condemned unequivocally, and its perpetrators must answer for their actions".

For context, the prime minister additionally accused the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party of urging students to expand the movement.

But Nuñez remarked the demonstrations and blockades were "not very typical protest movements".

"It is much more like urban violence, with a number of individuals who were masked, equipped with fireworks in tubes, equipped with projectiles, who clearly wanted to confront the internal security forces, " he remarked.

"It wasn't about making demands; it was really violence in its purest form."

Since the protests began, a number of incidents involving violence between students and police officers have been noted.

In one incident, a police officer reportedly fired a round from a grenade launcher applied for crowd control, injuring a high school student, according to France's BFMTV. Investigations have been introduced into these incidents, the broadcaster went on.

For now, french PM warns against escalation of school protests after 164 arrested remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.