French student protests widen; 15-year-old loses hand as injuries mount

Student protests over poor conditions in French schools have spread across the country, and a 15-year-old boy lost a hand during demonstrations in Lens, in the northern Pas-de-Calais region. The prefect of Pas-de-Calais, François-Xavier Roche, called it “a very serious incident” and said the student was taken quickly to a nearby hospital and his life was not in danger, Asia Economy and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. The incident happened near Auguste Béhal high school, which switched to fully remote classes and set up a counselling and support centre, Asia Economy said. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]

Accounts of how the injury happened differ. A police union source told AFP the boy picked up a sting-ball round fired by police and it exploded in his hand, according to Yonhap and Asia Economy. Asia Economy also quoted a female student who said she stood beside him and told the local newspaper La Voix du Nord that he “did not pick up or hold the grenade”. Lens mayor Sylvain Robert said he had seen video but could not confirm how police and students acted at the time. Prosecutors assigned the case to the National Police Inspectorate (IGPN), Asia Economy and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

Schools were disrupted nationwide on Monday. Yonhap reported 468 of France's roughly 3,700 high schools were fully or partly closed, about one in eight and a third of them in the Paris area; Asia Economy put the figure near 500; Kyunghyang Shinmun said more than 500. Education minister Édouard Jefré said 589 schools had class disruption, down from 735 on Oct. 2, Asia Economy reported. Yonhap reported protesters fired fireworks at police in Paris and Bordeaux, where police used tear gas, and that some school entrances were burned and windows broken; in Lille, masked people damaged a bus stop and set bins on fire. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported 24 schools were burned or damaged. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

Casualty figures also differ. Jefré said at least 190 students have been injured since the protests began, Asia Economy reported. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported 215 injured students and 715 injured police officers. Asia Economy reported that last week a 14-year-old in Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône was hit in the head by a police tear-gas grenade and suffered two jaw fractures, and his mother told a press conference his jaw was wired shut and he could only drink through a straw. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that a 16-year-old suffered a severe head injury and lost the sight in one eye at a protest in the central city of Tours, citing prosecutors. Yonhap, Asia Economy and Kyunghyang Shinmun all reported more than 5,000 arrests, with Yonhap and Asia Economy putting the share of minors at about 85% and Kyunghyang Shinmun at 87%. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

Students are demanding more teachers and staff, smaller classes and better school buildings, the outlets reported, and university students have joined the movement. The accounts differ on when it began: Yonhap said the protests started at a high school on Sept. 17 and spread nationwide; Asia Economy said they began in Paris late last month; Kyunghyang Shinmun said they started in the Paris suburbs, and carried a photo of a school blockade in Saint-Denis dated Sept. 30. A student at Charlemagne high school in central Paris, identified as Simon, told AFP that the anger “has built up over years”, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

The French Human Rights League said in an Oct. 5 statement that police instructions on dealing with minors carried no order for restraint, Yonhap and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. The government says far-left activists are exploiting the protests, while the far-right National Rally says far-left activists are inciting students, a claim France Unbowed rejects, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of France Unbowed, called the movement “the strongest high school and university youth movement since 1968”, Asia Economy and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported. Jefré said the government would create a platform to gather complaints about schools, aiming to resolve most problem cases by Oct. 16, and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported the government has also raised the question of parents' responsibility for damage to public facilities. The high school union alliance USL has called a large protest for Oct. 6, which students call the “third act”, and the secondary teachers' union SNES-FSU urged its members to join. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]

The outlets frame the political backdrop differently. Yonhap's second report described the unrest as taking place ahead of a French presidential election, while Kyunghyang Shinmun said the government of Emmanuel Macron faces a general election in about half a year and is preparing measures on ageing school buildings and teacher absences. [ 2 , 4 ]