French high schools closed in biggest day of student protests in decades

Protesters disrupted hundreds of high schools across France on Tuesday in what a student union said was a historic morning.

The union, Union Syndicale Lycéenne, said 2,000 high schools were at a standstill and all universities were mobilized amid the protests by students, parents and teachers against poor school conditions.

The protests are now in their third week, with demonstrators demanding the government address underfunded and under-resourced schools, which many say are falling apart. 

A large group of students blocked the entrance to their school Tuesday morning, gathering to waive signs and shout a chorus of chants. 

“In Saint-Denis, just right outside of Paris, high schools see the ceilings falling apart, water in the walls, rats,” one protester told CBS News.

Protesters have clashed with law enforcement, causing damage and setting school buildings ablaze. Police said they detained more than 5,000 people in connection with the protests, including more than 4,000 teenagers.  

Video footage showed protesters screaming and running from officers, who have used various tactics to disperse them, including tear gas and stun grenades.

Amid the demonstrations on Monday, a 15-year-old student lost a hand after picking up a police grenade in the northern French town of Lens, authorities told the French news agency AFP. A police union source said the student appeared to have picked up a sting-ball grenade fired by riot police, which then exploded in his hand.

Last week, in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, an area in the suburbs of Paris, a 14-year-old suffered a jaw fracture after reportedly being struck in the head with a tear gas grenade, according to CBS partner BBC News, which cited the teen’s lawyer.

Local officials have announced investigations into both incidents.

The French government, which is mired in political deadlock ahead of the country’s presidential elections next spring, has yet to show protesters any meaningful concessions. 

One protester told CBS News, “I’ll make noise as long as I’m not getting a response.”