About 300 employees of the French education system have been injured since high school student protests began in mid-September. Interim government spokesperson Mathieu Lefebvre announced this on Tuesday. He called for calm and dialogue between the parties.
He described the violence as unacceptable. Protests in France have also affected high schools that were blocked across the country, according to French media. They reported that 49 of them remained blocked during the day.
The protests spread to other cities beyond the capital. In Lyon, about 1,000 people gathered, including high school students, university students and trade unionists. In Bordeaux, several hundred young people demonstrated.
The movement began in mid-September and evolved into broader discontent over the cost of living, the situation of young people and the education system. Tensions rose further after an incident in the town of Shell, in the Seine-et-Marne department. There, councillor and deputy mayor Angelo Pascoe dos Santos was doused with petrol while trying to prevent the burning of containers near the “Gaston Bachelard” high school.
She stated that a young man threw a bottle of petrol at her chest area. According to her, she has filed a complaint for attempted murder. French Interior Minister Laurent Núñez condemned the attack.
He described it as urban violence that requires the most decisive response. The Minister of Education also condemned the incident. He stressed that this is no longer about high school demands, but about criminal behaviour that uses protests as a pretext to attack institutions.
The president of the Ile-de-France region, Valerie Pécres, described the event as unacceptable violence. She called for the perpetrators to be found and punished. The government continues to call for de-escalation, while protests continue in several cities across the country.