High school students in Paris’ deprived suburbs spark national protest movement

Maisa, a 17-year-old in a poor Paris suburb who aspires to be an English teacher, joined tens of thousands of other students and their supporters this week in protests that spread across France over ​dilapidated schools, classroom overcrowding and teacher shortages.

At Lycee Le Corbusier school in Aubervilliers, a suburb north of Paris in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, protesters said schools in poor ‌neighborhoods like theirs faced the worst conditions.

“Last year I took the high school French exam without a French teacher, and teachers have a huge impact,” Maisa said.

“These are not conditions to study in.”

As protests raged at more than 1,200 French high schools this week, police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets in some cases. More than 5,000 people were arrested, and some protesters were seriously hurt with eye injuries, broken teeth and blows to ​the head. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez called it a “climate of unacceptable violence” and called for order.

Amelia, 15, joined Maisa in the crowd outside the school gates and held a ​sign reading, “Our address should not decide our future”. She said she was demonstrating to demand the same rights as students elsewhere in the country.

“The education ⁠authority is…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/world