France suspends lycée lessons as high-school protests hit 1,800 schools
In short
Protests by high-school students in France on Tuesday affected around 1,800 lycées, according to RIA Novosti, while AFP, cited by TASS, reported that classes were suspended in nearly 900 senior schools — about a quarter of the country's total. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told the National Assembly that lessons in lycées would be suspended at the end of the week to free time for discussions with students, RBC reported, citing Le Figaro.
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Protests by high-school students in France on Tuesday affected around 1,800 senior schools, RIA Novosti reported. AFP, cited by TASS, reported that classes were suspended in nearly 900 senior schools — about a quarter of the country's lycées. RIA Novosti later reported that lessons in lycées had been suspended because of the protests. Neither the numbers nor the subject of the protests are explained in the documents. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told the National Assembly that lessons in lycées would be suspended at the end of the week to set aside time for discussions with students, RBC reported, citing Le Figaro. RBC did not say when the talks would take place or who would take part, and its account of a suspension planned for the end of the week differs from the suspensions already reported during Tuesday's protests. [ 4 ]
Why it matters
The disruption reached a large share of France's upper-secondary schools in a single day, and the government's answer is to pause lessons later in the week for talks with students rather than let the protests run into the school week. The documents do not state what the students are protesting about or how long the standoff may last.
Key facts
- Protests on Tuesday affected around 1,800 senior schools in France, RIA Novosti reported [ 1 ]
- AFP, cited by TASS, reported that classes were suspended in nearly 900 senior schools, about a quarter of the country's lycées [ 2 ]
- RIA Novosti later reported that lessons in lycées had been suspended because of protests by high-school students [ 3 ]
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said in the National Assembly that lessons in lycées would be suspended at the end of the week to allow time for discussions with students, RBC reported, citing Le Figaro [ 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- Whether lessons were already suspended on Tuesday or are to be suspended at the end of the week RIA Novosti and AFP, via TASS, describe suspensions during Tuesday's protests, while RBC reports the prime minister announcing a suspension at the end of the week; the documents do not reconcile the two.
- The exact number of senior schools affected RIA Novosti says 1,800 senior schools were affected while AFP, cited by TASS, says nearly 900 suspended classes, about a quarter of the total; neither figure is corroborated by another outlet.
- What the students are protesting about and what demands they have None of the documents states the subject of the protests or the students' demands.
- Whether the talks announced by the prime minister have been arranged or accepted by student representatives Only RBC reports the announcement, citing Le Figaro, and gives no details on the format or timing of the discussions.
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told the National Assembly that lessons in lycées would be suspended at the end of the week to allow discussions with students Reported by a single source so far
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- RIA Novosti reports that Tuesday's protests affected 1,800 senior schools in France [ 1 ]
- TASS, citing AFP, reports that classes were suspended in nearly 900 senior schools, about a quarter of the country's lycées [ 2 ]
- RIA Novosti reports that lessons in lycées were suspended because of protests by high-school students [ 3 ]
- RBC reports that Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told the National Assembly lessons in lycées would be suspended at the end of the week for discussions with students [ 4 ]