France, over 71,000 in the streets on fourth day of student protests

On October 8, the fourth day of mobilization by high school and university students in France, the Interior Ministry counted 71,500 demonstrators across the country, of whom 24,500 were in Paris. The same day the ministry reported 504 interpellations and 48 police officers and gendarmes injured, according to Le Monde.

Looking at the mobilization as a whole, which began on September 17 according to Le Monde’s reconstruction, the toll rises to 215 students and 85 education staff injured, in addition to nearly 800 police officers and gendarmes, according to the same source. The Interior Ministry, referring instead to the period since September 28, reported 6,547 demonstrators detained in the student and teacher protests, as reported by Internazionale citing Libération.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu accused the La France Insoumise party of wanting to “destabilize the country.” A reading rejected by the student organizations, which are putting forward concrete demands: 250,000 additional university places, the renovation of school buildings, and the elimination of selection through the Parcoursup platform.

Unlike mobilizations against a specific measure, the current protest has no single text whose withdrawal would bring it to an end, a feature that makes the evolution of the standoff with the government more uncertain. An anonymous online consultation aimed at students remains open until October 23, and had already collected over 1,700 responses as of October 6, according to L’Est Républicain.

Student unions have called for a new day of mobilization for Tuesday, October 13, a sign that the standoff with Lecornu’s government will continue in the coming weeks with no closing date set by either side.