Protests over France's failing school system will only 'intensify' if demonstrators' demands are not met, the country's main high school union has warned.
asserted
union → fail → system
Hundreds of thousands of protestors have caused havoc in France's major cities this week over dilapidated classrooms, overloaded timetables and school buildings incapable of coping with rising temperatures.
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thousands → cause → temperatures
Demonstrators let off flares, set buildings alight and hurled rocks at police officers as more than 256,000 took to the streets on Tuesday.
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256,000 → let → Tuesday
Riot police covered in body armour used shields, batons, pepper spray and tear gas to push back demonstrators in the capital, while in southern cities such as Marseille and Bordeaux officers were pictured spraying crowds with water cannons.
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officers → cover → cannons
More than 500 schools were forced into either partial or complete closure as riots intensified on Monday.
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riots → force → Monday
In some cases, schools were even 'burned or ransacked' by raucous crowds.
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schools → burn → crowds
Figures produced by the country's Interior Ministry revealed a staggering 6,100 rioters have been arrested since the outbreak of protests in September.
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rioters → produce → September
Yet the co-secretary general of France's main high school union, Syndicale Lyceenne, has now insisted that protests will only escalate as long as students 'are not listened to'.
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students → insist → union
Marius Mesnil told local broadcaster BFMTV: 'It shouldn't be up to us high school students to block high schools, to go and demonstrate by the hundreds of thousands in the streets to study in normal premises.
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It → tell → premises
Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of France on Tuesday to protest the country's failing school system
Riot police are seen carrying shields in front a fire sparked by protestors in Paris
Police officers carrying batons and shields are seen rushing along a Parisian street as a firework explodes above them
It was estimated that some 56,000 protestors took to the streets of the capital yesterday alone
'
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protestors → take → capital
The government has been trying to make us believe in recent days... that the movement has lost steam.
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movement → try → steam
Today we see the opposite.'
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we → see → opposite
Unions are calling for an end to the country's substandard school conditions, with thousands complaining of missing teachers and overloaded timetables.
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thousands → call → teachers
Students insisted once more last night that they are 'really, really motivated' to continue their fight until they're given a 'real answer' by the authorities.
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they → insist → authorities
One protestor, Lina Mas, said: 'It gives us a lot of hope because we are always blamed for being on our phone, but we are more educated than they think we are.
'
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we → say → phone
We're going to block everything until we have what we want.'
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we → go → what
Another, named Alissa, said: 'We're going to the streets because they've closed our schools... schools are falling apart.'
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schools → name → schools
While a protestor in Paris called Carole, aged 17, complained: 'Classrooms are full of rats and teachers are not always present - the conditions are terrible.
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conditions → call → rats
'Students from ethnic minorities are also terribly treated – especially by the police.
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Students → treat → police
Yet across the country many demonstrations quickly turned violent as schools were blocked off and protestors, many of whom donned balaclavas, clashed with police.
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many → turn → police
Shocking images from Paris showed rioters setting alight bins, letting off flares and clambering over statues yesterday in chaotic scenes.
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rioters → show → scenes
At the Place de la Nation, one of the city's most iconic squares, local police officers told reporters they are being repeatedly targeted by hordes of youths.
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they → tell → youths
Many protestors were heard shouting: 'Everyone hates the police!'.
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Everyone → hear → police
One officer said: 'Gangs of youths are trying to attack us constantly.'
Such scenes were however far from confined to the streets of the French capital.
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scenes → say → capital
A street in Rennes is pictured packed with demonstrators carrying placards and flags
Officers were seen using water cannons in the city to try and contain protests
In Rennes, police were pictured using water cannons and batons in a bid to ease the chaos ensuing around them.
Meanwhile, French newspaper Le Parisien reported that some inciters were telling their Snapchat followers to 'bring knives' and 'stab civilians in the crowd' outside the Couffignal high school in Strasbourg.
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inciters → picture → Strasbourg
Similar scenes were also replicated in southern French cities such as Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux.
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scenes → replicate → Marseille
It came less than 24 hours after a 15-year-old schoolboy lost his left hand when a police grenade exploded in Lens, around 150 miles from Paris.
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grenade → come → Paris
Footage from the scene showed several people tending to the young man as he lay on the pavement.
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he → show → pavement
His left hand appeared to be missing, with a bloody stump in its place.
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hand → appear → place
He was later seen slowly walking away from the scene.
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He → see → scene
Other reports claim he lost his arm up to his elbow but this has not been confirmed.
uncertain
this → claim → elbow
A spokesman for the ministry, which earlier estimated that more than 250,000 people protested on Tuesday alone, said: 'There have been 6,100 arrests, 1,483 of them minors, since the protests began three weeks ago.'
All were taken into custody for a variety of public order offences, from violence against public officials to vandalism.
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All → estimate → vandalism
At least 715 officers and 215 teenagers have been badly injured in clashes, the spokesman added.
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spokesman → injure → clashes
Figures from the political Left have been accused of encouraging riots in a bid to boost their vote, with a number of politicians joining protestors on the streets this week.
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number → accuse → streets
One of those yesterday was Jean-Luc Melenchon, the France Unbowed hard-Left presidential candidate, who previously accused the country's current government of 'steadily dismantling public services'.
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who → accuse → services
Mr Melenchon has a serious chance of replacing Emmanuel Macron as head of state in 2027 when Mr Macron will be forced to stand down having spent two terms in office.
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Macron → have → office
A Toluna Harris poll last week suggested that Mr Melenchon and Marine Le Pen, of the far-Right National Rally, would advance to next year’s presidential run-off, with Le Pen best placed to win.
uncertain
Pen → suggest → off
Bally Bagayoko, the Left-wing mayor of the Parisian suburb of Saint-Denis, was another of those to join rioters in the capital.
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Bagayoko → join → capital
A bin is seen set alight in the southern French city of Marseille over the weekend
Protestors donning masks and balaclavas also let off flares in the city
A man throws over a bin as temperatures soared in Marseille on Sunday
He said he opposed violence but adamantly stood by the thousands of protestors causing chaos on the streets of France.
'I stand by being on the side of my residents, and high school students are my residents,' he said.
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he → see → residents
The French Greens, meanwhile, called on elected officials and parents of rioters to join in wearing 'with white helmets, white armbands, white clothing, to go and protect our children in the demonstrations'.
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Greens → call → demonstrations
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
