Not sure about you, but I often feel that there is so much that is an ongoing catastrophe here in the U.S. that what's happening elsewhere---even within education--can be overwhelmed by just our stuff. So I hadn't caught that students in France have been protesting in what began in Paris but has now swept across the country. The reason?
Demonstrators have voiced a range of grievances, often centering on a lack of resources and opportunities for students in disadvantaged schools, despite the promise of France's national motto: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity."
Students have drawn attention to rundown classrooms that lack basics such as desks and chairs, become sweltering in summer without air conditioning and, in some cases, are infested with rats. Other common complaints include staff shortages and exhausting workloads. French high school students' compulsory classroom hours are among the highest in Europe.
Significant numbers of schools have been closed this week; it's estimated that a quarter of a million people were protesting in Paris.
The way that the protests are being met by the national leadership is increasing support for students:
Nearly 500 people were detained Tuesday, the ministry said. The widespread use of arrests, tear gas and riot-control weapons against teenagers is fueling defiance and angering some parents and teachers. Some student groups called for new protests Thursday....in the latest case, a 15-year-old boy lost a hand Monday in an incident involving a police stun grenade.
There is video circulating online of Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko shielding student protestors from riot police, as well as being treated for having been tear-gassed.
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