Paris —
The government changed its mind in response to the strong response to student protests across France.
Police have banned the use of stun grenades after a student’s hand was blown off earlier this week and have promised to heed more to protesters’ demands.
But with hundreds of schools still facing lockdown and calls for more protests, will it be enough?
Following a huge day of protests on Tuesday, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said French President Emmanuel Macron had called for “empathy” and a little more “education” from police confronting student demonstrators.
“The president reminded us of the need to maintain order and intervene whenever serious violence occurs, while also asking us to act with the utmost proportionality,” Nuñez told radio station RTL after an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Former Paris police chief Nuñez said he had ordered his forces to refrain from using the type of stun grenade linked to the teenager who lost a hand during Monday’s protests.
“We don’t treat high school athletics like we treat adult athletics,” Nunez said.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told lawmakers on Tuesday that high schools would replace classes through this weekend with a “period of internal democracy” to vent grievances and discuss solutions.
Lecorne refuted suggestions of police repression but condemned the violence on the fringes of the protests, which were largely peaceful Tuesday despite the dramatic scenes that dominated the headlines.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday, Lecorne said parliament would consider a budget on November 12 that includes 64 billion euros ($71.6 billion) in education funding, a slight increase from last year.
He also said the government has launched five initiatives to address student needs, including renovating school facilities, improving student schedules and increasing opportunities to voice concerns.
“We have a duty to listen to their voices. Taking young people seriously means supporting their efforts as much as sharing their challenges and constraints,” he said.
Proposing a debate is a tried-and-true tactic for Mr. Macron, who has historically supported attempts to integrate public debate into policy-making. His government tried to quell yellow vest protests in 2019 with a similar listening campaign.
Meanwhile, Nunez said 18 investigations into police actions during the protests had been opened by internal police investigators, adding that they would look into the proportionality of police actions. Police “are there to protect high school students,” he said.
More than 500 educational institutions will be partially or fully closed on Wednesday due to the lockdown, according to the Ministry of Education, a 41% drop from Tuesday. This will result in 86% of schools being open, the ministry added. According to the Interior Ministry, 488 people were detained around Tuesday’s high school student protests.
Wednesday’s student lockdown actions were just part of the hundreds of thousands of people who marched with trade unions across France on Tuesday in support of students. However, the continued daily protests are an expression of resentment among students.
The student union has called for a protest on October 17, and five major teaching unions have announced a strike on Thursday in solidarity with students, but there is little sign that school lockdowns will stop in the meantime.
More teachers, smaller class sizes, and climate-friendly buildings are the most common demands of high school protesters.
Leaders of student unions representing some of the young protesters are also calling for 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion) to be invested in education at high school and university levels.
A list of 10 proposals drawn up by the students’ union included a review of student workloads, an end to the controversial university admissions system, an end to police violence against students and more accommodation for students.
Sabourin Carlebach, a spokesperson for the Students’ Union, which is affiliated with the students’ union, told BFMTV that the lockdown will continue until its demands are met.
Anais Ella, a spokeswoman for the student group Les Liceens, told CNN that L’Ecornu did not respond to the demands put forward by the student group.
She said some of the Prime Minister’s proposals, such as filling exam-grade teaching posts, were “fundamental to the education system”. She said that while the money would address some of their demands, there needed to be a deeper reset in the government’s relationship with students.
“We are the ones most directly affected by our national education system, and yet we are not really being listened to,” she added.
Since the weekend, there has been a concerted effort among students to reject the violence that marred the protests.
Angelo Via, a 19-year-old student who took to the streets to protest on Tuesday, told CNN he felt “powerless” in the face of violent police action, even though many students were protesting peacefully. He hopes the protests will lead to “fundamental changes”, particularly regarding education funding.
There will be a sense of relief over the interior minister’s decision to ban a type of police grenade in France, after some teenage protesters were injured and fear spread. However, the proposal to set aside time for discussion has been met with skepticism from some quarters.
SNPDEN-UNSA, the main union for school directors, said the one day set aside for the discussion was not enough to address the issue in depth.
Nicolas Bonnet, the union’s national secretary, told BFMTV: “We needed something more than just a consultation period to get us out of this crisis.”
In France, there are whispers that these protests could morph into another yellow vest movement, uniting a leaderless and widely disaffected church across the country.
Students and journalists have already begun calling next day’s protests, scheduled for Thursday, a “fourth act,” mimicking months of violent protests, the longest in French history, that rocked President Macron’s first term.
Additional reporting by Lucie Lepellec, Lisa Courbebaisse, and Michael Rios.
