French Students Rally Over School Funding and Conditions

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Students demonstrating in Paris on Tuesday accused the French government of failing to provide adequate funding for education and other public services, as a protest movement that began in high schools continued to draw university students and wider support across the country.

Speaking to Kurdistan24 correspondent Sangar Akrayi in Paris, protesters said shortages of teachers, equipment and funding had fueled frustration among students and encouraged them to take to the streets.

One male protester said dissatisfaction extended beyond education and reflected wider concern about spending on hospitals, local authorities and other public services.

"It's widespread frustration, because we have budget cuts and public services being axed: hospitals, education, town halls," he told Kurdistan24.

He argued that taxpayers were not seeing sufficient public benefit from the money collected by the state, claiming that large companies and investors were benefiting while public institutions struggled.

The protester said high school students had become particularly frustrated by conditions including inadequate equipment, shortages of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and problems with school infrastructure.

He said high school blockades over the past two weeks had now been joined by university students, with protesters seeking broader unity around demands for better public services.

Another demonstrator, Chloé, told Kurdistan24 that a lack of funding was affecting students in different schools, including institutions outside central Paris.

"We are here for our rights," she said, adding that teenagers in some schools were being seriously affected by existing conditions.

Asked what protesters wanted from the government, Chloé said she hoped the scale of the demonstrations would encourage authorities to act and listen more closely to students' demands.

She also criticized what she saw as an excessive media focus on confrontations during the protests.

"They are only showing the violence and the scenes," she said. "Behind this kind of violence there is words, really important words, that we just want to be heard here."

Chloé said students were demonstrating together to make their concerns visible and to press for their rights.

The protests have spread across France since late September, with students at hundreds of lycées, secondary schools generally attended by pupils aged 15 to 18, blocking entrances to demand improvements in classroom conditions.

Agence France-Presse reported that thousands joined demonstrations in Paris and other French cities on Tuesday, with university students, teachers and union representatives among those participating.

The demonstrations were also supported by the far-left France Unbowed party.

AFP journalist Marc Burleigh, with AFP bureaux, reported marches in cities including Nantes, Lyon, Lens, Strasbourg, Bordeaux and Marseille.

Students have cited absent teachers, deteriorating school buildings, overcrowded schedules and classroom conditions among their principal complaints.

The French government has announced that around 3,000 substitute teachers will be deployed to the 114 high schools considered most affected by staffing shortages.

Student organizations have argued that the measure is insufficient, with the national students' union calling for a much larger financial commitment to secondary education.

President Emmanuel Macron urged restraint on Monday, saying the issues raised by students required "time, consultations, discussion, and respect."

The protests have also generated controversy over policing.

Students and rights groups have accused police of using disproportionate force during some demonstrations, while police officers and school employees have also been injured during unrest.

Authorities have opened internal investigations into allegations of police brutality.

France's Education Ministry said 214 schools, mostly high schools, were closed on Tuesday, while university student union l'Union Etudiante said a large majority of universities had closed in support of the movement.

Not everyone has backed the school blockades. Some parents and students have criticized them for preventing those who do not support the protests from attending classes.

The latest demonstrations nevertheless show that the movement has expanded beyond the high schools where it began.

For the students who spoke to Kurdistan24 in Paris, the central demand was straightforward: greater investment in education, improved conditions and a stronger government response to concerns they believe have gone unheard.