The protest does not stop, more clashes and violence in France

Blockades, clashes, tear gas, thousands of people taken in for questioning and damage amounting to millions of euros: the student revolt in France shows no sign of abating, having degenerated into violence and vandalism for the second day. Meanwhile, the "third act" of the mobilization, which is now setting the entire République ablaze seven months after the presidential vote, has been announced for Tuesday, October 6. Around twenty campuses have been closed, and the protest risks spreading to universities as well. Clashes between young people and law enforcement occurred in several cities, including Paris, Lyon, Marseille and Strasbourg. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez denounced the violent assault on a police officer, who was struck by "rioters" in Belfort. The entrance of the Lycée Roger Verlomme, in the capital's fifteenth arrondissement, was set on fire with a rocket launch. The entrances of the Lycée Léonard de Vinci and a vocational technical institute were also burned. According to Education Minister Edouard Géffray, since the beginning of the week more than a hundred schools have suffered serious damage. Video Student protest in France, lycées closed and guarded in Marseille Sixty-five school staff members were injured, including some forty head teachers. In Marseille, a fifteen-year-old was arrested for making death threats against his former Spanish teacher: "Let's kill him," he reportedly wrote on social networks in recent days. Governor Valérie Pécresse cited damage of 7 million euros for Île-de-France alone, the Paris region that is home to nearly 20% of France's population. As for the Nelson Mandela Lycée in Nantes, whose entrance was "completely destroyed" by a violent fire during the protests, it will remain closed until early November. Minister Geffray announced that 735 schools were the scene of incidents on the second day of protests, with at least three people injured and more than 1,700 taken in for questioning. In the morning, the minister had indicated that nearly 400 lycées had remained closed or switched to remote learning. "Parents must mobilize and tell their children not to go and demonstrate," was his appeal on television, adding that "what matters now is making sure that children are no longer in the streets because they are in danger." Video France, lycée blockades: the voices of students in Rennes These exhortations do not appear to have convinced the student unions. At the end of the long-awaited face-to-face meeting with Géffray, the lycée student representatives said they were "disappointed" with the outcome of the negotiations. They then called for the protest to continue in the absence of "concrete measures." Among the demands raised by the demonstrators are more staff and resources for schools, the renovation of school buildings considered dilapidated, but also the abolition of 'Parcoursup', the reform accused of entrusting young people's futures to an algorithm. "The Union syndicale lycéenne (USL) calls for the mobilization to continue, for the demonstrations to go on," announced its president Ryad Rani as he left the meeting with the minister. For their part, the CGT, FO, CFDT, UNSA, Sud and Solidaires unions confirmed their participation in the mobilization planned for Tuesday, without ruling out the possibility of a strike. Reproduction reserved © Copyright ANSA