The atmosphere is tense ahead of the student protests expected in France on Tuesday. Authorities expect 20,000-40,000 demonstrators in Paris during the day. They will be joined by a coalition of teachers’ unions, the Socialist Party and the left-wing party France Unbowed. The country’s main farmers’ organization is urging farmers to join the protests “with their tractors,” Le Figaro reports.
The protests have been violent since they began in late September. More than 6,000 people have been arrested, most of them minors, and on Monday a 15-year-old in Lens had his hand blown off by a police grenade.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is urging demonstrators to protest “peacefully” and is calling for Tuesday to mark a return to “a regulated, legal and democratic form of protest.”
Students are demanding more resources for upper secondary schools, particularly citing substandard facilities, overcrowded classrooms and teachers who are not replaced when absent. Much of the anger is also directed at a new admissions system that is seen as contributing to inequality.
Hundreds of high schools across the country have been blocked by angry students, and many are closed as a result of the protests.
