France promises 3,000 extra teachers in first step to calm student protests

The French government has made its first sign of giving ground to teenage protesters, with a promise of 3,000 extra supply teachers in the coming days.

Education minister Edouard Geffray made the offer in a television interview on Thursday evening, at the end of another day of sometimes violent demonstrations by high-school students.

The government says 6,877 people have been arrested, 86% of whom are under the age of 18, since protests began centred around demands for more resources in secondary education.

In what unions have billed as Act Four of the three-week movement, some 71,000 people staged protests across the country on Thursday, with 24,000 gathering at the Bastille in Paris.

Police once again intervened with tear-gas to disperse groups who attacked them with paving stones and homemade fireworks.

In Bordeaux, a lycée, or high school, was ransacked by protesters, and in Marseille a deputy-head was beaten up.

On Friday, some 140 lycées - out of 3,500 - were totally or partially closed, a big drop on previous days. But another day of action has been called for next Tuesday.

Geffray's announcement was the first material concession to the protesters' complaints.

It has long been recognised by all concerned in French education that too many school hours are being lost because of absent teachers and their non-replacement by available supply staff.

The minister said that thanks to new software coming online at the ministry, it would be possible to direct 3,000 supply teachers to the 500 or so lycées identified as being in the greatest need.

Many of these schools are likely to be in high-immigration city suburbs, where the lack of teachers is most acute.

Geffray also said that more money would be made available under an already existing scheme for those teachers who want to work overtime hours in order to plug gaps.

And he promised that students' grievances would be taken into account in forthcoming discussions on the education section of the 2027 state budget.