"15-Year-Old Loses Wrist to Grenade"...Teenagers' Fury Sweeps France, Shutting Down More Than 500 Schools

[Financial News] France is being rocked by protests from teenage students demanding improvements to poor educational conditions. As hundreds of schools shut down and a 15-year-old student suffered serious injuries during a police crackdown, tensions between the government and protesters are reaching a boiling point.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP) and other foreign media outlets on the 5th (local time), student protests that began in opposition to poor educational conditions—including frequent teacher absences, overcrowded classrooms and aging facilities—have spread like wildfire across France.
That day, 468 schools, or about 13% of all high schools in France, were fully or partially closed in the wake of the protests. Protesters erected barricades at school entrances and chanted slogans. In some areas, including Lille in the north, masked demonstrators damaged bus stops and set trash cans ablaze. In Paris, Bordeaux and elsewhere, students fired fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas and batons, leading to fierce clashes.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray said, "Large-scale school closures are unavoidable due to safety concerns," adding, "Since the protests began, 24 schools have already suffered damage from arson and looting."

A shocking injury also occurred during the crackdown on the protests. In Lens, in the northern region of Pas-de-Calais, a 15-year-old boy suffered serious injuries and lost his hand when a sting-ball grenade (a non-lethal blast grenade) fired by police exploded after he picked it up. In Belfort in eastern France, video emerged showing a group of youths knocking down and beating a police officer, as violence on both sides spiraled out of control.
According to French authorities, more than 5,000 people have been arrested since the protests began, and as many as 85% of them are minors. Amnesty International France and the French League of Human Rights (LDH) strongly condemned the government's hard-line crackdown, saying, "Police are using excessive violence against minors and ruthlessly detaining them."

The government claims that the violence has gone beyond the students' genuine demands. Minister Geffray said, "Far-left activists have infiltrated the protests, taken control of the students' movement and incited extreme violence," describing the current situation, in which 78 school staff members have been injured, as an 'unprecedented crisis.'
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu sought to defuse the situation by promising to first fill teacher staffing gaps and discuss plans to improve school facilities with regional education leaders on the 7th. However, protest organizers announced that they would proceed with large-scale protests on the 6th and 7th, saying the government's measures still lacked specifics. Tensions are therefore at their highest.   

[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter