French student protests spread as more than 1,900 people are detained

Secondary-school students across France have blockaded and in some cases set fire to school buildings in a protest movement over understaffing, overcrowded classrooms and long timetables. Al Jazeera reported fires at schools and clashes with police as the demonstrations widened. More than 1,900 people, most of them students, have been detained and hundreds of officers injured, according to France 24, which also reported suspended transport services in several cities.

By Friday evening the scale of disruption had grown well beyond the movement's early days. French Education Minister Édouard Geffray said about 735 of the country's roughly 3,700 high schools had been affected in one way or another, though he noted this was 30% fewer than the previous day's peak, The Week reported. University students had also blocked access to about 30 campuses, including in Paris and Marseille. French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu convened a crisis meeting and asked ministers to cancel travel plans.

The two sides describe the same events differently. Protesters and teaching unions present the movement as a response to deteriorating conditions in public education. Lecornu has accused La France Insoumise, a left-wing political party, of encouraging students to block schools, while some students have told news agencies that outsiders hijacked otherwise peaceful demonstrations, with officials estimating about €3 million in damage at nearly 40 schools. Neither characterisation has been tested in court.

The fiscal context explains why the dispute is hard to settle. France is trying to narrow a deficit that has unsettled its bond market, and the concessions students demand, more teachers and repaired buildings, require exactly the spending the government has promised to restrain.