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PROTESTS

IN PICTURES: Thousands of people take part in anti-fascism protests across France

Several hundred thousand people took to the streets across France to protest against far-right leader Marine Le Pen ahead of the presidential election next weekend.

Published: 16 April 2022 17:29 CEST
A protestor holds a placard which translates as 'nor Macron, nor Le Pen - but especially not Le Pen'
A protestor holds a placard which translates as 'nor Macron, nor Le Pen - but especially not Le Pen' during a demonstration 'against racism and fascism' in Paris on April 16, 2022. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)

There are several demonstrations taking place across France on Saturday, but this union-organisation protest had been expected to be the largest.

Jointly organised by the League of Human Rights with several unions (CGT, FSE, FSU, FAGE, Unef) the protest was organised to express anger over the presence of far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election.

The demo started at 2pm on Saturday at Place de la Nation, moving to Place de la République.

A spokesman said: “The extreme right is once again present in the second round of the presidential election, with an unprecedented level of votes. We refuse to see it come to power.”

Organisers had also called for demonstrations across France.

A protestor waves a flag as he marches with others during a demonstration ‘against racism and fascism’ in Paris on April 16, 2022. (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)

A protestor holds a placard which translates as ‘down with the state, down with money, long live the commune, universal humanity and emancipation’ during the demonstration (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)
 

French gendarmes hold riot shields as they gather during the demonstration . (Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP)

Protestors hold a banner reading ‘Against the far-right’ during a demonstration against racism and fascism in Perpignan, southern France, on April 16, 2022. (Photo by RAYMOND ROIG / AFP)

A protestor (R) holds a banner reading ‘Voting for Le Pen is not worth it’ during a demonstration ‘against racism and fascism’ near Marseille’s prefecture, on April 16, 2022. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)

Protestors shout slogans during the demonstration in Marseille. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)

Protestors holds a banner reading ‘no to the far-right, for justice and equality’ in the demonstration in Marseille. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)
 

Protestors shout anti-fascist slogans in front of riot mobile gendarmes during a demonstration at the Vieux Port in Marseille, on April 16, 2022. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)
 

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SCHOOLS

Teachers’ strikes and protests planned across France on Tuesday

In protest against plans to 'stream' pupils into groups based on academic level, unions have called on French teachers to walk out and demonstrate again on Tuesday.

Published: 2 April 2024 10:47 CEST
Teachers' strikes and protests planned across France on Tuesday

Teachers in France are taking to the streets again, with another day of strikes and protests planned for Tuesday in protest against ‘streaming‘ in lower-secondary school (collège).

Unions have called for teaching staff to “amplify the mobilisation”, with over 80 demonstrations planned across the country on Tuesday, less than two weeks after the last large-scale mobilisation on March 19th.

Unions representing teachers are calling for the government to abandon its plans for a ‘choc des savoirs’ (knowledge shock), which will involve separating pupils in collège based on their level in maths and French.

They say that the government has passed decrees that are “unacceptable and irresponsible and (…) in defiance of the general opinion from members of the profession”. Unions are also calling for an increase in salaries and more resources for state schools.

READ MORE: Why ‘streaming’ in French schools is causing controversy (and strikes)

What’s the ‘streaming’ plan?

The proposal to stream students into groups based on their ‘needs’: one group that is ‘at ease’ with the subject, one average group, and one group that needs extra attention.

It will begin with the lower two classes, 6ème and 5ème (ages 11 and 12) in autumn 2024, and by 2025 be expanded to the older two grades, 4ème and 3ème, according to a decree published in France’s Journal Officiel on March 17th.

Ongoing protests in the education sector

Parents and parent associations have also got involved in the demonstrations, as part of ‘opérations collèges morts’, or ‘dead school operations’. These have involved keeping collège-aged pupils home from school.

Dozens of lower-secondary schools across the country have participated in the past few weeks, with at least  25 Paris-based collèges joining in, after an appeal from the Federation of Parents’ Councils (FCPE), French daily Le Parisien estimated.

On top of that, parents in the Seine-Saint-Denis district protested en masse on Saturday, calling for a €158 million ’emergency plan’ for schools in the area.

Parents and unions would like to see at least 5,000 teaching posts created in the département, as well as renovations of dilapidated school buildings. 

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