By Dominique Vidalon
PARIS, Nov 10 (Reuters) – French authorities condemned on Tuesday acts of violence committed against teaching staff and officials as high school and university student unions vowed to keep up pressure for better conditions in institutions of learning.
France has been buffeted for months by street protests. They began in September with students demanding the renovation of school buildings, more teachers and university reforms but then turned into broader cost-of-living protests, drawing in trade unions and political activists, and sometimes turning violent.
In Chelles, near Paris, a local official was hit in the chest earlier on Tuesday with a bottle filled with gasoline in front of a high school.
In Begles, near Bordeaux in southwestern France, a high school principal was hit in the head on Monday by a projectile, while in Aix-en-Provence, in the south, a high school was set on fire overnight.
“This violence is absolutely unacceptable,” government spokesman Mathieu Lefevre said, adding that nearly 300 national education staff had been injured since the start of the student protests nearly two months ago.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez condemned the Chelles attack, writing on X: “This is no longer a high school student movement. These are acts of urban violence that call for the strongest and most determined response.”
Education Minister Edouard Geffray said that as of Tuesday 99% of high school students were back in class, but added: “In a few schools, there are dangerous people, violent people, who attack staff and elected officials.”
Forty-nine of the country’s 3,700 high schools were blockaded on Tuesday morning, the Education Ministry said.
French high school and university student unions said on Monday they were not satisfied after holding talks with Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu and called for the demonstrations to continue.
In Paris, a march was due to leave from the Pantheon at 2 p.m. (1300 GMT) and head towards the Place d’Italie.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; additional reporting by Makini Brice; editing by Gareth Jones)
