Hundreds detained as lycées are blockaded
More than 400 people were taken into custody across France on Tuesday as school protests spread nationwide, and most of those detained were children. Interior minister Laurent Nuñez, speaking to the broadcaster BFMTV, put the total at 440, adding that 48 members of the security forces had been hurt during the day's events.[S1]
The education ministry said protests or other disruption affected 400 schools on Tuesday. The demonstrations, which included fires and blockades, centred on complaints such as classes that are too large and a lack of teachers.[S1]
A movement that began near Paris
The campaign in French lycées — the level comparable to sixth form in the United Kingdom or high school in the United States — started the previous week in the Île-de-France region surrounding the capital. By Tuesday it had widened into a countrywide phenomenon.[S1]
The same day, public-sector professionals including teachers and firefighters held their own demonstrations against planned budget cuts in France, placing the student action alongside a broader wave of opposition to spending reductions.[S1]
