Greta Thunberg joins French teenagers in another day of school protests

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg joined a demonstration Tuesday outside a high school in a working-class suburb of Paris as French students took to the streets for another day of protest against poor living conditions.

Now in its fourth week, the national movement to denounce the shortage of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated facilities has given rise to demonstrations, the blockade of hundreds of schools and, in some cases, clashes with the police.

Students gathered outside the gates of several schools in Paris and other cities in the morning, holding signs and megaphones and chanting slogans, and demonstrations were planned for later in the day.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray told France Inter radio that around 200 schools were closed, although he suggested some of the closures were due to security measures as they were on the routes of planned protests.

Thunberg, who rose to prominence as a teenager protesting climate change but has since broadened her activism, said French students deserved broader support.

“They need to know that all over the world we are following these developments. We are inspired by young people who are demanding their fundamental rights,” she told reporters outside the Paul Eluard high school in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, one of the schools where the protest movement has grown.

“Whether it’s underfunding for schools, the climate crisis, or crises of social injustice… it’s time for young people to step up and reclaim that future.”

Thunberg also criticized the police response, which has been hotly debated, as an “extremely violent” sign that authorities were protecting the status quo and ignoring young people’s demands.

Riot police used tear gas and charged protesters in numerous incidents, injuring hundreds and arresting thousands.

The government suspended the use of stun grenades last week after a teenager lost his hand.

While left-wing politicians have criticized the police, far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and others have blamed violent protesters and highlighted damage to schools and injuries to staff and police officers.

The protest movement has added to the sense of uncertainty and crisis in France six months before the presidential election that could usher in the first far-right government since World War II, led by Le Pen’s National Rally.

The cash-strapped government has promised to act to address students’ concerns, but it has little room to maneuver at a time when concerns about the national debt and budget deficit are pushing borrowing costs to their highest levels in years.

Le Pen, favorite to replace President Emmanuel Macron according to opinion polls, said she would cut spending to rein in public finances.