French schools burn as student unrest spreads

{"text":[[{"start":7.1,"text":"High school protests across France have turned violent in recent days, with top officials and far-right politicians accusing the hard-left firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon of fuelling the unrest."}],[{"start":18.9,"text":"According to the interior ministry, more than 3,000 people have been detained this week as students — angered by overcrowded facilities, crumbling infrastructure and under-investment in education — have protested outside more than 1,000 schools. "}],[{"start":34.45,"text":"Some schools were set on fire, including in Nantes and Lyon. There was also an attempt to set fire to Bordeaux’s city hall. Public transport was suspended in Marseille, as were tram services in Strasbourg. "}],[{"start":48.1,"text":"Since the protests began, 65 staff members and 170 students have been injured, and more than 100 high schools “severely” damaged, according to education minister Édouard Geffray."}],[{"start":60.400000000000006,"text":"“Violence will not deprive our students of their fundamental right to education,” Geffray wrote on X on Thursday. "}],[{"start":67.25,"text":"Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu earlier this week accused the far-left party La France Insoumise of “exploiting [the students’] anger for partisan ends”."}],[{"start":76.9,"text":"An official in Lecornu’s entourage said intelligence services shared the assessment that the unrest was “a manoeuvre” organised by Mélenchon’s La France Insoumise “and its ultra-left proxies”."}],[{"start":89.2,"text":"This is a “turning point”, the person added. “It is no longer a question of blockades of high schools, but of urban violence.”"}],[{"start":96.8,"text":"Far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Thursday also blamed Mélenchon’s LFI for the unrest."}],[{"start":103.85,"text":"“These are no longer student protests. These are riots organised by professionals and overseen by members of parliament from La France Insoumise,” she said while calling for a new “anti-rioter” law. "}],[{"start":117.44999999999999,"text":"Mélenchon has called for peaceful protests, but said they came in reaction to the “lamentable” state of national education after President Emmanuel Macron’s nine years in power."}],[{"start":128.29999999999998,"text":"“We are appalled by the dilapidated state of our high schools. Such neglect is shameful!” Mélenchon wrote on X. “The Macron government has made a terrible mistake. By blaming us for everything, they think they’re solving the problem.”"}],[{"start":141.95,"text":"The far-left candidate is polling at about 17 per cent of voting intentions, which could potentially qualify him for the run-off against far-right Le Pen."}],[{"start":151.79999999999998,"text":"Video footage circulating on social media shows one incident in which a teenager was hit at close range by a projectile fired from a police grenade launcher. Investigations have been opened into three incidents in which students were allegedly injured by law enforcement, interior minister Laurent Nuñez said on Wednesday. "}],[{"start":170.2,"text":"The protests come as the government announced spending cuts for 2027 — though not in education — in a bid to calm market jitters about the deterioration of France’s finances, which has led to higher borrowing costs. The government said next year’s education budget would increase by €1.1bn compared with the previous year, but teachers’ salaries will be partially frozen. "}],[{"start":193.7,"text":"Earlier this week, French labour unions organised strikes over pay and the rising cost of living. "}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":199.95,"text":"Governments in France have long feared student protests, which can ignite unpredictably and risk rapidly swaying public opinion. In 1968, a student revolt helped trigger national strikes that nearly brought down the De Gaulle government. More recently, student strikes converged with the 2018 gilets jaunes uprising, compounding the biggest domestic crisis of Macron’s first term. "}],[{"start":224,"text":"France’s education system showed a sharp deterioration according to a benchmark transnational study from the OECD released in September, including a continuing decline in student reading skills and an “unprecedented” drop in maths. "}],[{"start":238.6,"text":"The OECD pointed to teacher shortages, poor classroom conditions and inequality between rich and poor students as causes. Lost teaching time due to school closures and absent teachers who were not replaced totalled 10 per cent nationally, according to the education ministry. "}],[{"start":261.8,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790998790_2505.mp3"}