As France reels from student protests, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg joined the high school pupils demonstrating on the streets on Tuesday.
The protests have swept across high schools in France, with students facing off against riot police, AFP also reported. The protests began last month at a high school in Creteil, southeast of Paris, over staffing shortages, as reported by AP. Our future is being robbed away from us. The demonstrations have resulted in thousands of arrests, injuries, and schools reportedly being set ablaze. Following this, it expanded into strikes, blockades, and rallies across Paris suburbs and nationwide. The demonstrations have forced hundreds of schools to close. The students are protesting under-resourced schools, staff shortages, and poor facilities, especially in lower-income areas. Riot police have reportedly deployed batons and tear gas.
The 23-year-old activist had gained fame as a teenager for school strikes to demand action on climate change, it added. Over 70,000 protesters took to the streets last Thursday as part of the movement that sprung up in late September, the report noted. Students have also reported lack of air conditioning in summer heat waves, freezing in winter, enduring 8 am to 6 pm school days, and navigating a complex university entrance system. There have been over 6,600 arrests nationwide as of last week, the report highlighted. Meanwhile, AP further added that the jaw and teeth of a 14-year-old were shattered by police’s tear gas grenade and a 15-year-old lost a hand in a stun grenade incident.
Thunberg arrived at the Paul Eluard High School and stood among the students protesting at the heart of the movement in the capital’s largest suburb of Saint-Denis, according to a report by AFP. Thunberg told AFP, “Young people are not being included in the conversation. The French media have shown videos of rats, leaks, collapsed ceilings, and broken furniture in dilapidated schools, according to AP.
Teenagers had blocked the entrances to several schools before dawn in the Paris region. Furthermore, students in the southern city of Marseille pushed dumpsters on wheels in front of their high school. Meanwhile, the authorities had been reportedly hoping that the protests would ease down ahead of the half-term holidays.
Left-wing politicians have criticised the police response to the protests, while the far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and others have highlighted damage to the schools. (with inputs from agencies), according to Reuters.
