School protests send shivers down French government's spinepublished at 16:37 BST

16:37 BST

Hugh Schofield
Paris Correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

Since the student protests of May 1968 – memorably described by President De Gaulle as chienlit (bed defecation, in other words chaos) – every government has run scared of angry French youth.

Youth movements are unpredictable and shapeless, often with no clear structure to negotiate with. Because when they protest, other groups join in.

As they're young, the public tends to sympathise. And if the police mess up and cause injury or worse, then the consequences are incalculable.

Presidential elections are only months away. For all these reasons, when la jeunesse en colère (angry youth) is at the barricades governments tread very carefully indeed.

Right now, French teenagers are at the barricades and they certainly have the government of President Emmanuel Macron in what Le Monde called on Friday "the cold sweats".

But young people are also the biggest abstainers in French elections. The strategy for the France Unbowed party (LFI) will be to give constant reminders to them that the party and its popular presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is on their side, and that their vote can count.

Paul Pradier
Reporting from Paris

I've just seen a video showing a teenage boy attempting to put out a flaming bin with a fire extinguisher, before being pushed by another young man.

As he continues to try and put out the fire, the clip appears to show a crowd of young men charging at him, while others try to protect him.

It's a violent scene, with audible screams, which clearly shows that not all of those attending the protests share the same objectives.

"There are several conditions right now that put high school and university students in a real state of anxiety,” Sandra Champain-Sellier, a teacher at Berthelot High School near Paris, tells the Reuters news agency.

"It’s too easy to level accusations or say that high school or university students are being manipulated.

"It is, in fact, social realities that are causing things to spiral out of control, unfortunately. We would really like things to calm down", she tells Reuters.

Image source, Reuters

Alixe Riviere, a member of the parents' association at Berthelot High School near Paris, says that the students' demands are not "superficial".

"They aren't just asking for more funds for the cafeteria ... they don't have time for lunch, so they arrive for afternoon classes on an empty stomach," he tells Reuters.

Riviere adds that long schedules mean some students miss the school meal service, which their families pay for.

Image source, Reuters

Eleonore Caroit, France's minister delegate for foreign affairs, says the "kids are being instrumentalised by the far left".

"There are some legitimate requests that we can hear and respond to in a civilised matter....but one thing is for sure, these kids are being instrumentalised by the far left," she tells BBC's Newshour programme.

Caroit accuses mayors from the La France Insoumise (LFI) party of "legitimating the use of violence," which she calls "unacceptable".

She says Jean-Luc Melenchon, LFI's presidential candidate, said it was okay for kids to express their anger "in any potential manner".

Jean-Luc Melenchon has denied the government's claims. He says the protests are "self-organised" and that he worries about police violence against young people.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

We've been hearing reaction from French politicians as unrest has spread around the country. While some have supported students, others have condemned some of the protesters for engaging in violent behaviours.

Here's what they've had to say:

• French President Emmanuel Macron said he could “understand the anxiety, the anger" of the protesting students but added that “none of these debates, none of these fears justifies violence”
• Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that “the difficulties of high schools must be heard and addressed. Violence must be condemned unequivocally, and its perpetrators must answer for their actions”
• Marine Le Pen, presidential candidate for the hard-right National Rally, said: "This is no longer about high school student protests. It is about riots organized by professionals and overseen by deputies from La France Insoumise”
• And Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who leads the radical left La France Insoumise, said that his party "called for non-violent methods of struggle", and urged the government to “respond to the demands instead of waging a partisan political battle”

Manon Prat
Reporting from Paris

Multiple unions have expressed their solidarity with students.

The SNEP-FSU, a physical education union, public services union SNUEP-FSU and the union syndicate Solidaires have all called for members to support the demonstrations.

They're calling for a strike and a demonstration on 6 October "in support of the demands of the student mobilisation".

Elsewhere, the Solidaires Trade Union Federation has issued a statement which reads: "Let’s not let them fire on our children!" The union says that "secondary school pupils have the freedom of assembly, association and demonstration."

It also calls for trade unions, departmental branches and members to "stand alongside the young people in their struggle, whilst respecting their autonomy, to support their demands and ensure the right to demonstrate is upheld".

France's Minister of Interior Laurent Nuñez has announced an investigation for attempted voluntary homicide has been launched after a police officer was "deliberately targeted" during protests in Belfort, north-eastern France.

Nuñez writes on X that the plainclothes officer was hospitalized after "losing consciousness" during the attack.

"His condition no longer gives gives rise to major concern at this time," he adds.

The minister expresses "total support" to police officers, saying that when they resort to force they are "not dealing with demonstrators but rioters".

In a media briefing about the incident, Belfort prosecutor Paul-Edouard Lallois says a 17-year-old "whose role has not yet been defined" has been arrested.

"He nevertheless admits to having been part of the group" that attacked the officer, Lallois adds.

Image source, getty

Thousands of students across France are continuing to protest across the country today over concerns about education standards.

If you're just joining us, here's what to know.

More than 500 schools are facing disruptions as a result of the demonstrations, with at least one school damaged by fire saying it will be closed to in-person learning until next month.

French authorities report that at least 65 staff members and 305 police officers have been injured during the unrest, with nearly 2,000 people arrested.

Verified footage shows violence and disorder breaking out in France’s second-largest city, Marseille. The BBC has confirmed that a video circulating on social media shows a fire engine being attacked outside a school.

As the demonstrations continue, our Europe editor writes that "the question has now become how to stop 'unbridled violence' as much as deal with high-school shortages."

We're continuing to follow the situation - stay with us here for updates.

Manon Prat
Reporting from Paris

Image source, Reuters

France's education minister, Édouard Geffray, has set out the details of a consultation platform proposed to students.

During a meeting with teachers’ trade unions on Friday morning, Geffray stated that the consultation platform will go live next Monday.

Two questions will be asked:

• What difficulties are you facing?
• What are your expectations?

Students will have three weeks to respond before a phase of analysis and discussions, following the All Saints’ Day holidays.

This feedback phase will take place alongside the budget debates in the National Assembly.

There's still a heavy presence of students - and, consequently, police - on the streets of Paris this afternoon.

We're receiving pictures from our team on the ground showing large groups shielding themselves from grey smoke that is filling the street with masks, their own shirts or other pieces of cloth.

Some have been spotted stopping to talk with the police.

Marianne Baisnée
Reporting from Paris

A student who identified himself to journalists by the pseudonym Jean is attending the final year of high school in Paris.

The 17-year-old says he and his classmates don’t want schools to burn – they just want education to be "better".

"I think France is one of the worst European countries when it comes to education. We’ve decided that’s enough," he tells the BBC.

He says anyone causing damage "has got nothing to do with us" and "are not helping” deliver the change students are demanding.

"We're not here to be nice but we don't want chaos," he adds. "We just want our voice to be heard by the government."

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

A high school student has been seriously injured during protests in the border region of Alsace, the president of the Horizons party in the Grand Est area says.

Franck Leroy tells BFMTV the student appears to have been injured while "handling a device that another young person had brought" to demonstrations in the commune of Selestat.

"His life is not in danger but he's in a serious condition," Leroy says, adding that the device - which he describes as "an aerosol or explosive device of pyrotechnic type" - was allegedly put into a bin which the teen then "grabbed", injuring himself.

He calls for "calm and responsibility", saying that the protests had now "fallen into the hands of vandals". Leroy says that violent demonstrators should be held accountable for any damage caused.

James Waterhouse
Reporting from Paris

A protester in Parishas told the BBC that pupils want French classrooms to become safer.

The student, who identified himself as Diego, says "it's not normal" for there to be 40 students in a class for two hours. "We are angry," he says.

The 16-year-old says that "a lot of noise" is needed to bring about change and says that all French schools will need to protest.

Diego adds that pupils from his school have not caused any damage.

"The guys who are making trouble here are not from the school," he says.

It's early afternoon in France, where student protests are continuing across the country.

We're seeing photos of fires in multiple locations and riot police responding to protesters.

Image source, Getty Images

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Image source, Reuters

Image source, EVN

Laëtitia Degeuse, a director of a youth centre in Rennes, north-west France, says she's "stunned and shocked by such a massive deployment against young people". She says students "are simply trying to live and study in dignified conditions".

Degeuse tells the Eurovision News Exchange that "with all this violence, we can’t even hear their demands anymore, even though they’re entirely legitimate."

The director says it's not just education that is suffering in France, but all public services. "We all have a stake in showing solidarity with a movement like this," Degeuse says.

Overcrowded classrooms, unsanitary facilities, and a shortage of teachers is the current state of education in France, she explains.

Manon Prat
Reporting from Paris

Secondary school protests are continuing today, with 564 schools which "have been or are currently the subject of industrial action or disruption since the start of the day", the Ministry of National Education says.

Minister Édouard Geffray said earlier that nearly 400 of France's 3,700 secondary schools were closed on Friday, with many schools planning to deliver lessons remotely.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Cities and towns across France are reporting widespread disruption to local transport because of the protests.

In the south of the country, the official website for a local transport network in Bordeaux has disruption alerts for all six of its tram lines.

It says "manifestations lycéennes sur la Métropole" (high school student protests in the city) is the reason for the disruption.

In the north, some transport services in Lille are no longer running because of the closure of a nearby school, where protesters had recently gathered.

And in the east, school protests in a town south of Strasbourg have also resulted multiple transport services being stopped, according to one local transport website.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that transport in Orléans, Nice, La Rochelle, and Marseille were suspended for part of Thursday.

Verified videos show violence and disorder in Marseillepublished at 12:28 BST

12:28 BST

Image source, X

By Paul Brown and Shayan Sardarizadeh

One video shows a group of masked people, some of whom are dressed all in black, attacking a fire engine outside Lycee Saint-Expury, a school in France’s second largest city.

The group can be seen hitting the emergency vehicle with blunt objects and smashing its windows.

At one point a bright flame is seen in the driver's cab, and a cheer from the crowd can be heard.

A second video also shows protesters attacking the fire engine, with one individual seen brandishing a saw. The vehicle is then seen fully engulfed in flame.

Aftermath photos of the scene show the fire engine completely burned out on the road, as well as the school building daubed in graffiti.

Another video, also filmed yesterday by a bus stop near the city’s port, shows a hooded individual spraying what appears to be a makeshift aerosol flamethrower at a woman’s face, before walking away.

The details of the attack and the extent of the woman’s injuries are unclear.

Image source, Getty Images

We can bring you a bit more from French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, who has spoken to local media today.

He has said he wants parents to be liable for damage caused by children during the school protests.

He tells France's RTL radio that parents should be held accountable for their children's actions and explains he has asked prosecutors to seek "civil liability" from parents to cover the cost of damages.

He says: "Parents must fulfill their responsibilities as parents. What are 15 and 16-year-old kids doing attacking bus shelters or their school principals?"