Burning cars, clashes and mass arrests: France’s student protests spread across the country – videos

High-school students across France blockaded hundreds of schools on Tuesday as a weeks-old nationwide protest over school funding, overcrowded classrooms and poor infrastructure showed no sign of easing. Injuries and clashes with police intensified amid pressure on the government.The demonstrations, which began in the Paris region in mid-September and spread to cities and towns across France, have led to widespread school closures, arrests and confrontations between teenage protesters and police.The French government said 215 students and 715 police officers had been injured since the protests began. France’s Justice Ministry said 5,060 people have been arrested since the protests began, with 87 per cent of them minors. More than 1,800 people are being prosecuted, including 1,483 minors, the ministry said, without specifying the crimes. It said 790 cases had been dismissed.Police have used tear gas and riot-control weapons to disperse demonstrators, with authorities describing some of the unrest as “urban violence”. Unions, rights groups and students have accused police of using disproportionate force.Interior minister Laurent Nunez said late Monday that police had opened 10 internal investigations into allegations of brutality since the protests began.The protests escalated after two serious injuries involving students. In Lens, in northern France, a 15-year-old boy lost his hand during a confrontation on Monday.In Paris, hooded youths set fire to the entrance of a high school on Monday, while footage from the demonstrations showed burning cars, people running through streets and clashes with police.Parents, union activists and other adults gathered at the school wearing white armbands, with local media reporting that their “aim of creating a buffer zone” was to keep teenage protesters and police apart.Students said their grievances include run-down classrooms, shortages of desks and chairs, insufficient teachers, exhausting workloads and schools that become extremely hot during summer. Some pupils have also complained about rat infestations.