Paris — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's office held a crisis meeting on Thursday afternoon as student protests against staff shortages and dilapidated buildings escalated into violence, with attackers dousing a headteacher in petrol and setting fires at schools.
Ministers were asked to cancel planned official trips so the government could focus on the demonstrations, Reuters reported.
What happened
On Thursday, a headteacher at the Victor Hugo high school in Marseille was doused in petrol and suffered injuries, the prosecutor's office said, without giving further details.
In a separate incident, hundreds of young people surrounded a fire truck that had arrived to fight a blaze at Marseille's Saint-Exupery high school, forced the firefighters to flee the vehicle, and then set it alight, police said, via Reuters. A blaze also hit the Nelson Mandela high school in Nantes, where fire crews brought the fire under control with no injuries and evacuated the building.
A spreading revolt
The demonstrations and blockades began last week. Hundreds of people — most of them teenagers — have been arrested and dozens injured, officials said, according to Reuters.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said troublemakers were moving from school to school inciting violence. Education Minister Edouard Geffray called for schools to hold classes remotely if blockaded, writing on X: "Violence will not keep our students from their fundamental right to an education."
The unrest has become a political flashpoint ahead of the presidential election next May to replace Emmanuel Macron, who is constitutionally barred from a third term. Left hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon decried the government response as repressive. The escalation came the same day the government announced deeply unpopular spending cuts in its 2027 budget.
Sources: Attackers douse teacher in petrol as student protests rage across France (Reuters via ThePrint); France gripped by spreading student protests as PM calls crisis meeting (AP via The New Indian Express)
Ministers were asked to cancel planned official trips so the government could focus on the demonstrations, Reuters reported.
What happened
On Thursday, a headteacher at the Victor Hugo high school in Marseille was doused in petrol and suffered injuries, the prosecutor's office said, without giving further details.
In a separate incident, hundreds of young people surrounded a fire truck that had arrived to fight a blaze at Marseille's Saint-Exupery high school, forced the firefighters to flee the vehicle, and then set it alight, police said, via Reuters. A blaze also hit the Nelson Mandela high school in Nantes, where fire crews brought the fire under control with no injuries and evacuated the building.
A spreading revolt
The demonstrations and blockades began last week. Hundreds of people — most of them teenagers — have been arrested and dozens injured, officials said, according to Reuters.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said troublemakers were moving from school to school inciting violence. Education Minister Edouard Geffray called for schools to hold classes remotely if blockaded, writing on X: "Violence will not keep our students from their fundamental right to an education."
The unrest has become a political flashpoint ahead of the presidential election next May to replace Emmanuel Macron, who is constitutionally barred from a third term. Left hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon decried the government response as repressive. The escalation came the same day the government announced deeply unpopular spending cuts in its 2027 budget.
Sources: Attackers douse teacher in petrol as student protests rage across France (Reuters via ThePrint); France gripped by spreading student protests as PM calls crisis meeting (AP via The New Indian Express)