France's school protests: what lies behind the anger
Since late September, students across France have been staging protests and blockades at high schools to demand better funding, address staff shortages, and fix dilapidated facilities. While grievances about heatwaves, mobile phone bans, long school days, and the Parcoursup university allocation platform are real, observers note that similar pressures exist in other developed nations without sparking this level of unrest. The movement has turned violent in several places, leading to hundreds of injuries and thousands of arrests, including outside troublemakers known as casseurs. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has described the scale of the unrest as unprecedented in terms of the number of schools, participating pupils, and the degree of violence involved.