School protests in France that began in the suburbs of Paris have spread to other cities across the country within a week, the website infohub.kz reports. Students, teachers and parents are taking part, complaining about overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and poor conditions of school buildings.
Students from more than 1,200 French schools joined the action. In some cases, protests were accompanied by blockades, and police used tear gas and rubber bullets.
According to Reuters, more than 5,000 people were detained. Some participants suffered serious injuries, including eye damage, knocked-out teeth and blows to the head.
The Seine-Saint-Denis department north of Paris became one of the centers of the protests. At the Le Corbusier high school in Aubervilliers, classes in mathematics, humanities, English and physical education have been canceled since the start of the school year due to teacher shortages.
Parent and teacher representatives also speak of overcrowded classrooms and a lack of nurses and social workers. According to the CGT union, two-thirds of schools in Seine-Saint-Denis took part in the protests, and teaching vacancies remain unfilled in two-thirds of the department's schools.
Amid the protests, the French government plans to increase the education budget by 1.7% to €65.53 billion, excluding pension costs for teachers. However, the increase is below inflation.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray said education remains a priority, and the limited budget growth is due to population decline.
At the same time, according to the French Ministry of Education, average spending per middle school student has barely changed in recent years: €11,660 in 2024 versus €11,910 in 2010.
Earlier, Kursiv wrote that Spain was gripped by mass unrest over the housing crisis.