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Posted Zero Hedge
France suspended classes on October 5 at between 400 and 500 high schools as student protests turned violent over recent weeks, Education Minister Édouard Geffray said. Of some 3,700 high schools in France, lessons would be "totally or partly suspended" at hundreds of them because security conditions could not be met ahead of further planned protests.
The tensions began to show in the Paris region in mid- to end September with complaints about the lack of teachers, crowded classrooms, dilapidated schools and insufficient resources. Within a few days, the unrest had spread to cities including Marseille, Lyon, Lille and Nantes. And within a few days, school blockades had turned to destruction: over two dozen schools were set on fire or ransacked, school entrances and barricades made of bins were set alight and staff and police attacked.
This has come at a huge cost to many individuals. Reports indicate that at least 78 educators and 170 students have been injured, along with hundreds of police and gendarmes. Over 5,000 individuals have been detained since late September, with the authorities confirming that 85%+ of these individuals to be minors.
It is the far left which the government blame for the student protests turning violent. Hard-left activists, according to Geffray and the prime minister's office, had infiltrated the student movement "hijacking" it and driving the most extreme violence. Intelligence reports cited by French media had identified the roots of the escalation of violence in the manipulation by radical groups including those linked to the party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), and revolutionary communist agitators.
France Insoumise have denied having instigated any of the violence and instead claimed that the protests were perfectly reasonable in light of failures in French education and that the police had overreacted. The French government on the other hand rejected that view, emphasizing "urban violence" and hinting that parents could be held responsible for any damage done.
The clashes are taking place against the background of the current French political and budgetary tensions, as well as of the approaching elections. In the face of determined student protesters, the French government is opting for a return to order, even as the protest movement vows to maintain pressure. As Zero Hedge and French outlets have reported, the standoff has become a flashpoint over who controls the streets and who is held accountable when a student movement turns to arson.
