Hugh Schofield
Paris Correspondent

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

From early this morning, 100 or more students from the Lycée Sophie-Germain in central Paris blockaded their building with wheelie bins and crowd-control barriers, and in a party atmosphere chanted slogans and songs targeting the government, the far-right and the police.

Afterwards they moved off to the Place de la République where a protest march is now getting under way -- the students joined by delegations from trade-unions and left-wing political parties.

There is of course a big contingent of police stationed all around, ready to intervene in the event of vandalism or fire-raising.

On all sides there’s hope that this more structured form of protest – a march down an authorised route – will prove more easy to control than ad hoc outbreaks outside schools.

France's interior ministry estimates about 86,000 protesters have taken to the streets across France on Tuesday, not including the Paris region, Reuters reports.

The Paris protest is due to start now - at 14:00 local time (13:00 BST), according to organisers, with authorities expecting between 20,000 to 40,000 people to attend.

In Rennes, a city in north-western France, riot police can be seen using water cannon during clashes on the sidelines of a demonstration, in pictures from news agency AFP - while some people try to protect themselves with umbrellas.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Hugh Schofield
Paris Correspondent

Image source, Reuters

The French police - like all forces - have various "non-lethal" crowd-control weapons at their disposal. These are often criticised by the left and human rights groups for being dangerous and unsuitable for use against teenagers.

The most controversial are the Grenade à Main de Désencerclement (GMD) and the Lanceur de Balles de Défense (LBD). The first in English means Anti-encirclement Hand Grenade, and the second Defence Ball Launcher.

GMDs - often called sting-balls in English - are thrown by police along the ground. They create a loud bang and send out small fragments of rubber.

LBDs - which used to be called Flashballs after an early trademark - fire rubber projectiles from a gun.

The boy who lost his hand in Lens on Monday was injured by a GMD. The investigation will determine whether he tried to pick it up or was hit by the grenade.

An LBD has been blamed for another serious injury - a boy who lost his eye in Tours last week. During the Gilet Jaune riots of 2018-2019, LBDs were blamed for a lot of facial injuries to protesters.

In addition French riot police fire tear gas canisters, which can cause trauma if they make contact with a human body.

The interior ministry says the weapons are only used as a proportionate response to events that risk getting out of control.

Protesters have been clashing with police riot officers in Lyon, a major city some 466km (290 miles) southeast of Paris, where officers can be seen in full tactical gear and using crowd-control weapons.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to march today across Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Lyon and Paris.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, AFP

The wave of protests started with15 to 18-year-old lycéens and has now spread to their parents, university students and the biggest union, the CGT.

The main question is whether today's demos, culminating soon in the centre of Paris and dubbed "Act Three" in the school movement, will mark a climax. Once these protests have died down, will the government be able to say it has done enough to tackle the core demands?

With presidential elections only seven months away, Sébastien Lecornu's government may struggle to quell the unrest, because along with the demands to tackle under-funding in education there is a highly politicised mood and widespread shock at the level of violence.

More than 700 police officers have been hurt, and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has spoken of unprecedented "urban violence", particularly towards teachers and security forces. More than 6,000 people have been arrested, he says.

But 215 teenagers have also been injured, and on the left and among human rights groups there is talk of a "disproportionate" police response.

With hundreds of schools disrupted, it does not yet sound as if the lycéens are ready to stop.

There are 891 schools across France which have had their classes suspended, either totally or partially, amid the ongoing protests, multiple French outlets are reporting citing figures from the Education Ministry.

As a reminder, high school students' union the Union Syndicale Lycéenne claimed earlier today that 1,800 high schools and 90% of universities are currently blockaded or closed.

France's national human rights institution has published a statement calling on the government to strengthen dialogue with protesters.

The National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH) expressed "serious concern" about the "disproportionate use of force and procedural abuses", insisting that the state's response to unrest should remain targeted and proportionate.

It has asked the government to adopt a de-escalation strategy and says the right of children to express their views freely must be guaranteed.

Nick Beake
Reporting from Lille

The focus of these protests in France has been secondary schools, but today buildings of Lille University are barricaded as students and lecturers join the cause of the teenagers.

There are parents here too. We’ve just spoke to Lea, Elodie, and Anne.

They say their kids are not yet of high school age but already they’re worried about the long school days they will soon face. A typical school day starts around 08:30, and some teachers we've spoken to say it can run to 18:00.

A march has just set off. Several hundred people are now passing through the streets.

Student protests are continuing for another day around France, with streets across the country packed out.

There have been scuffles with police in some areas - including in Strasbourg, in north-east France. News agency Reuters reports that fire crackers are being thrown at police officers there.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Mark Lowen and Pierre-Antoine Denis
in Marseille

We've been speaking to students in Marseille, southern France, where more protests have been taking place this morning.

They include Coline, who spoke to us about her anger towards the education system - as well as the police.

She says she’s fed up with empty promises from the French government, and seeing the degradation of the schools she’s studying in, as well as seeing an increase in pupils in each classroom.

When asked about the violence, she says that while some people go too far, violence can be legitimate "given how they treat us".

But she also mentioned something we've heard from protesters all morning - they don't want this to be seen as a political protest.

Far-left presidential hopeful Jean Luc Melenchon is accused by the government of adding fuel to the fire by supporting this movement.

Coline, and many others here and across France, welcomes the support, but says it is first and foremost a student protest about their day-to-day lives.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

It started last month as a smattering of protests at schools in the Paris region rallying for better conditions.

The cause was then taken up by France's union for secondary school students - which last Tuesday co-ordinated a nationwide blockade of schools.

But in some places, these protests escalated into disorder and violence. Several schools were set on fire, teenagers suffered eye injuries, and one lost his teeth in a skirmish. Police were also injured.

It had reached such a pitch by Thursday that the government called a crisis meeting with its intelligence agencies, and the education minister declared on Friday that the protests had been "hijacked".

Image source, Anadolu via Getty Images

As peaceful protests have continued, so has the disorder. A 15-year-old's hand was blown off on Monday, reportedly by a sting-ball grenade.

Some have also raised concerns about heavy-handed policing, including Amnesty International which late on Monday called for an end to the "disproportionate police response seen in recent days".

The French Interior Minister, Laurent Nuñez, said late on Monday that 10 internal investigations into allegations of brutality had been launched since protests began, AFP reported.

Image source, EPA

France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has ordered his ministers to tackle the students' leading demands in an attempt to quell the protests.

These include ensuring absent teachers are replaced, reviewing the length of the 10-hour school day and the need for longer lunch breaks.

Lecornu has said the government will also look at repairing ageing school buildings and has given ministers until the end of October to come up with their first proposals.

On Monday, France's education ministry launched a national consultation for high school students to share their suggestions for improving their schooling.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray said it was essential "to take into account the diversity of their (pupils') school experiences" and the consultation will allow the government "to listen to their proposals and to build concrete solutions with them".

Mark Lowen
Reporting from Marseille

Thousands have gathered here in central Marseille, walking down the Canebière Avenue towards the old port, waving union flags and holding banners supporting the students’ demands.

Eric Loizeau, a high school teacher, told me weeks of staff absence go by at his school until supply teachers are brought in, and that the 160-year-old building is dilapidated and unbearably hot in a rapidly warming Mediterranean summer.

Marseille is often a part of France where social unrest comes to a head - a culturally diverse melting pot, with pockets of extreme social deprivation.

Violence has flared here since the student protest movement began.

For now at least, it’s defiant but peaceful. And it’s hard to see how the movement’s demands will be met by a government that urgently needs to rein in public spending - and as a polarised nation stands just six months away from a defining presidential election.

Demonstrations are taking place in more than 30 locations across France today, according to L'Union Étudiante, which helped organise today's protests.

People will take to the streets in cities including Marseille, Nice, Nantes, Lyon and Paris, where up to 40,000 people are expected to march on Tuesday.

As we've been reporting, pupils have already been gathering in the city of Lille in northern France ahead of a demonstration planned there at 12:00 local time (11:00 BST).

It's mid-morning in France and the streets are already packed across the country, as demonstrations for increased investment in schools continue.

In some places, relatives of student protesters are taking to the streets alongside them as part of a "Parents Present" movement.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Hugh Schofield
Reporting from Paris

The Lycée Sophie-Germain in the Maraisarea of Paris is not a deprived school.

The area is affluent. But they are protesting here too.

"We know we are lucky. We have a good high school, good teachers, good equipment - but we know that at a lot of other schools in other places, they don’t have this," says Adèle, 17.

For Sacré, 17, the problem goes beyond the immediate material concern about resources for schools.

"Personally I am very worried. There’s climate change; there’s AI, wars," she says.

"The more time passes, the more I’m saying to myself: 'In what world am I going to grow up? What am I going to leave for my kids?' Actually, I am very scared for the future."

The Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL), one of the organisers of today's protests, claims 1,800 high schools are currently blockaded or closed by the Ministry of Education.

It also reports that 90% of universities are blockaded, adding in a statement on X that the level of mobilisation has reached "a new record".

On Friday, the USL said more than 30 universities and more than 600 high schools had been blocked as part of the ongoing demonstrations.

In its statement today, the union also reiterated its demands.

These include opening up 150,000 places in higher education, €10 billion for emergency reconstruction in schools, and "mass hiring" of teachers.

Image source, Reuters

On Monday, a 15-year-old's hand was blown off, reportedly by a sting-ball grenade, following confrontation between students and police in the northern town of Lens.

The prefect of Pas-de-Calais, François-Xavier Lauch, said the student's life was "not in danger", but described the incident as "very serious".

Lauch told French media that riot police were deployed after students near Auguste Béhal high school threw stones, fireworks, and mortars at police.

The non-lethal weapon is used by riot police for crowd control management, and there are conflicting accounts on whether the boy picked up the grenade.

A regional prosecutor said an investigation would be carried out by the French police watchdog, the General Inspection of the National Police (IGPN).

This is not the first injury sustained in recent protests. Last week, a 14-year-old was reportedly struck in the head with a tear gas canister and suffered a jaw fracture.

A 16-year-old boy named Mael also lost use of his right eye during the blockade of Balzac High School in the central town of Tours.

The government says 215 students have been injured since the protests began with more than 500 schools closed and demonstrations expected to remain ongoing.

Nick Beake
Europe correspondent, reporting from Lille

We’re in the city of Lille in northern France where pupils gathered from early this morning outside their schools to protest.

Many descended on Lycée Fénelon, where students here are holding banners calling for more investment in their education.

Bins were set on fire in the street before firefighters arrived to extinguish them. You can see police officers waiting in the wings but there’s no sign of further trouble, here at least.

But at a hospital in this city a 15-year-old boy is being treated after losing his hand during a protest yesterday in nearby Lens.

The authorities say he picked up a sting ball grenade which then exploded. Students have claimed he was hit directly after an officer fired.