PARIS, October 6. /TASS/. Several thousand people are taking part in a rally of college and high school students in Paris’ Republic Square, a TASS correspondent reported.
The demonstrators are demanding that the government allocate more funds for education instead of increasing defense spending. Many have brought banners reading "No more money on war" and "Money should be spent on wages, not shareholders."
"Education spending is declining; moreover, school buildings are in poor condition. For example, the school in the Seine-Saint-Denis Department where I went has mold all over the place, the toilets don’t work there and there is a serious lack of teachers," a student named Capucine told TASS.
Another demonstrator named Emilie said that "you can't continue allocating money for the army when school roofs are collapsing." "They need to stop giving money to the army and send it to schools, because roofs are collapsing and there aren’t enough teachers. <...> The national education system is dying," she added.
High school student protests broke out in the capital region of Ile-de-France in late September, now spreading to the entire country. Demonstrators are protesting against overstretched schedules, teacher shortages and other problems facing the education system. In some areas, protests escalated into unrest and clashes with police. Law enforcement officers have so far detained over 6,000 people, 90% of them minors.