French School Protests Spread to Belgium as Police Use Tear Gas in Paris

Police fired tear gas on Thursday at students who had built barricades outside a high school in northeastern Paris, as nationwide protests over school funding in France showed few signs of ending, according to The Associated Press, whose report was carried by The Independent and ABC News. The unrest has also reached Belgium, where authorities in Liege have banned public gatherings.

The Interior Ministry says police have made more than 6,600 arrests since late September. The Education Ministry said 375 schools were fully or partially closed on Thursday.

How the day unfolded in Paris and Belgium

The sources do not give a full chronology of the movement, but they describe these steps:

• Late September: Students, most of them under 18, began protesting to demand more education funding, according to the Interior Ministry.
• Tuesday: School closures were higher than on Thursday, the reports said.
• Wednesday: In Liege, Belgium, city police said they used water cannon and tear gas on several hundred protesters. Almost 90 people were arrested and several officers were injured.
• Early Thursday: Dozens of students dragged rubbish bins into place outside the Helene Boucher Lycee in Paris. Police then moved in with tear gas.
• Later Thursday: At least a dozen demonstrations backing the students were planned around France.
• Oct. 16: The Liege ban on public gatherings is set to expire at midnight.

What the protesters and the government say

The protests target the under-funding of schools, many of which struggle with dilapidated buildings and too few staff. The reports said the movement has also drawn people not interested in its aims, as well as unions and political groups.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu addressed the country on television. He condemned violence against students, staff, police officers and gendarmes, school fires and vandalism, and thousands of hours of lost classes. He also criticized political leaders he accused of using the anger for electoral purposes. France holds a presidential election in April. “We cannot play with the safety of France’s youth,” he said.

Emma Khelil, 18, a university student who came to support those at the barricades at her former school, told the AP she was worried about police violence. She said she had seen insulation problems, water leaks and occasionally rats in the building, and that other students confirmed seeing rats. She was not convinced by Lecornu’s efforts to calm the situation and said she expected the movement to grow stronger unless things change.

Unrest crosses into Belgium

Liege Mayor Willy Demeyer banned public gatherings until midnight on Oct. 16. He cited a “real, serious and imminent risk” of repeated clashes and vandalism. Authorities sent emergency text messages telling shopkeepers to close because of rioting. Police reinforcements arrived from Brussels and Antwerp, with more on the way, and smaller protests took place in Mons and Charleroi.

Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said on social media that the perpetrators would have to answer before the courts. The Belgian protests are organized through social media chat groups. They include demands for more teachers and smaller classes and complaints about education reform in Belgium, but are also likely inspired by events in France, the reports said.

Why it matters for families and students

For students and parents in France, the immediate effect is disruption: hundreds of schools were closed in full or in part on Thursday, and the prime minister spoke of thousands of lost class hours. Police have made thousands of arrests, and protesters and officials have both raised safety concerns. In Liege, residents face a ban on public gatherings and shopkeepers have been warned to close during rioting.

The reports said pressure is growing on the government of outgoing President Emmanuel Macron, even though closures were down from Tuesday.

Sources: The Independent, ABC News