France’s school protests are about more than broken classrooms

As dustbins burn and students chant “everyone hates the police” in the French city of Lille, one teenager explains why he and his friends have taken to the streets.

“There aren’t even enough chairs. We have to go and find some at the start of every lesson,” the 16-year-old, who did not want to give his name, says of his school.

“We’ve got 50 minutes to eat at lunchtime but there are 2,000 of us that need to get through the canteen.”

He is one of hundreds of thousands of students who have protested across France since the end of last month over staff shortages and dilapidated facilities in the country’s lycées, secondary schools attended by 15 to 18-year-olds.

Despite the government’s apparent attempts to make concessions, the students show no sign of backing down.

“They have armies, they have the police, they have the powers,” says Massicella, 18, as she marches through Lille. “But we have the mass population.”

The protests, which have turned violent, have become a focal point in France’s polarised politics, with all sides accusing the other of escalating tensions. As a presidential election approaches, politicians on both the hard right and hard left have sought to capitalise on the unrest and on what many see as the government’s inability to resolve the crisis.