Image source, ReutersFrench high school students gather outside the Lycee Henri IV in Paris
France is bracing itself for another day of mass protest, as students demand more investment in their schools.
Students are already protesting outside schools across the country, while tens of thousands are expected to take to the streets today as powerful trade unions join the demonstrations.
The first protests were organised at the end of last month in the Paris region, with the cause taken up by the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL) – a union for secondary school students – which called for a national blockade.
Demonstrations have since spread rapidly across the country – from Lille, to Marseille, to Nantes – and hundreds of schools have been partially or totally closed.
On Tuesday, Reuters reported that students in Pairs had constructed barricades out of bins and held up banners reading: “We want to be heard, not
teargassed” and “our future is not optional”.
While many protests have been peaceful, others have spiralled into violence – with schools being set alight and more than 5,000 people arrested over the past week.
We’ll be bringing you all of the latest developments on this right here.
