France puts damage from student protests at €33–38 million

The damage from high school student protests in France is estimated at €33–38 million, infohub.kz reports.

According to authorities in three regions of the country, the bulk of the material damage broke down as follows: in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region it ranged from €25 to €30 million, in the Paris region (Île-de-France) about €7 million, and in the Grand Est region almost €1 million.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on TF1 television that more than 5,000 people have been detained since the start of the week, 85% of them minors.

The protests, which involved arson, theft and acts of vandalism, swept across 735 schools, with more than 100 lycées ransacked. About 400 educational institutions were forced to switch entirely to remote learning because of blockades and clashes.

French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin ordered that the parents of protesting teenagers be held civilly liable, obliging them to jointly pay for repairs and fully compensate the damage caused to educational institutions. The government considers this financial penalty more effective than prison sentences for teenagers.

Earlier, Kursiv wrote that the mass student demonstrations in France began over dissatisfaction with the deterioration of the education system, heavy academic workloads, teacher shortages and overcrowded classrooms.