France pledges more teachers after student protesters vow not to let up

France's interior ministry said 71,500 people have taken part in protests across the country. (AFP pic) PARIS: France's education minister on Thursday promised 3,000 substitute teachers for the country's worst-off high schools, after tens of thousands took to the streets nationwide to demand better education and less police brutality.

Students have blocked entrances to hundreds of high schools for more than a week, with squads of riot police deployed -- occasionally resulting in violent clashes.

High school students across the country -- most aged 15 to 18 -- have complained of absent teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.

In a bid to placate the anger, education minister Edouard Geffray on the evening news said the teachers would be deployed in the coming days to replace absent staff at the 114 worst-affected of around 3,700 high schools.

The interior ministry said 71,500 took part in protests across the country, most outside their schools, with police detaining more than 500 people.

In Paris, where some 24,500 took to the streets, a few fireworks streamed up into the sky as students from schools and universities rallied in Bastille Square.

Crowds of students climbed the famous monument at its centre, some waving the French flag and singing the national anthem.

A student sat with his legs dangling on the top of a bus stop, clutching a sign reading: "Reason for absence: Too busy fighting for our future."

Jeanne, a 15-year-old student from a top Paris high school, said she wanted to show solidarity with pupils in less privileged areas outside the capital.

"There shouldn't be people who are more educated than others when we're all in the public education system," she said.

Marianne, a 20-year-old university student who also did not want to give her second name, said she objected against excessive police force in recent days of protest.

"For me, that's just unacceptable," she said.

'We want action'

Some demonstrators have started fires and vandalised bus shelters. In response, police have used tear gas, batons and blast balls, prompting rights groups and the children to accuse them of using disproportionate force.

A 15-year-old lost a hand on Monday after police fired a stun grenade, and the government has suspended the use of the weapon.

Police on Thursday evening said they used tear gas in Bastille to disperse some "high-risk profiles".

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu in a televised address on Wednesday evening promised a plan to respond to the crisis by the end of October.

Although he denied security forces had been given "orders to confront" the protesters, many were unconvinced.

"We don't want words, we want action," 17-year-old Camille told AFP at a student march in the western city of Nantes.

Outside one high school in Rennes, 18-year-old Hanaa told AFP she was "disappointed and unconvinced" by Lecornu's remarks.

'Fundamental issues'

Assane Seck, father of a 15-year-old student in a Paris suburb, told AFP that at his son's school, "a teacher in one subject or another is missing" almost every day.

"There are genuine, fundamental issues that deserve reflection," he said.

Economy minister Roland Lescure said this week there was room to address demands for more school resources within the highly constrained 2027 budget.

In the current draft, education has the second largest increase in funding -- after defence -- with a boost of 1.4% to 90.9 billion euros.

A report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development found that France spends 24% more per student on upper secondary education than the OECD average -- but markedly less at earlier stages, particularly primary schools.

The country's recent PISA score -- an annual survey which assesses the performance of education systems by measuring the skills of 15-year-old students -- was France's worst since the rankings began in 2000.

Hundreds of students, police and teaching staff have been injured since the protests began, and thousands of people -- mostly children -- have been arrested.

Police have opened 18 internal investigations into allegations of misconduct.

The unrest has erupted just months ahead of the 2027 election to choose a successor to centrist president Emmanuel Macron.