"Over 5,000 Students Detained This Week Alone" Student Protests and Clashes Lead to Numerous Injuries

[Anchor]

Protests by high school students are spreading nationwide in France, leading to major clashes in various places. In this week alone, more than 5,000 students have been detained by the police. The demand shouted by the students who took to the streets was a plea to improve poor educational environments.

Paris Correspondent Kwon Yeongin reports.

[Reporter]

A high school building in western France is engulfed in flames.

Flames are erupting in downtown areas across France, and physical clashes between police and students are becoming severe.

Student protests, which began at a high school in the outskirts of Paris on September 21, are spreading across the entire country.

On October 1, protests took place at some 1,200 schools, accounting for nearly one-third of all high schools nationwide, and more than 5,000 protesters have been detained by police so far.

Injuries are mounting as well, with around 400 police officers and 70 school staff members hurt.

One student was reportedly struck in the eye by a rubber bullet fired by police, resulting in the loss of vision in that eye.

Ultimately, education authorities moved to shut down schools last Friday.

This is a high school near Paris.

As student protests intensified, education authorities ordered the closure of about 400 high schools across France.

As a result, the entrances are blocked like this.

Students point to poor educational environments as the biggest issue.

[Lila / French Student: Students are taking classes in extremely outdated classrooms. Rain leaks from the ceilings, there aren't even enough desks to sit at, and the classrooms are infested with rats.]

[Ines / French Student: It is unbearably hot in the summer. Last year, I took national exams in a heatwave exceeding 30°C (86°F) without air conditioning, and it was really hard to endure. We cannot continue studying under these conditions.]

Teachers are also drastically lacking.

Last year, classes canceled due to a lack of teachers totaled 15.4 million hours in France, accounting for 7.5 percent of all instructional time.

That means classes were missed due to absent teachers for one hour every two days.

[Nathane / French Student: Even for core subjects like French or major college entrance exam subjects, there are cases where classes are left without a teacher for three to four months. This is a serious problem for countless students.]

The main cause is cited as the cash-strapped government effectively freezing education budgets for over a decade.

Although the Minister of Education held a meeting with representatives of students and parents and stated that measures to address the teacher shortage and other issues would be promptly established, students have announced plans for a large-scale rally on October 6.

(Video by Kim Si-nae | Video Editing by Choi Jin-hwa | Source: X(@BREF_ACTUALITES))
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.