Teen loses hand as French school protests escalate nationwide

A 15-year-old student lost his hand in a grenade explosion during clashes between police and demonstrators near a school in Lens, a city in northern France, on Monday morning. The incident occurred as nationwide school protests continued over teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, and deteriorating school infrastructure. According to the prefect of Pas-de-Calais, François-Xavier Lauch, the teenager was transferred quickly to a nearby hospital and his life was not in danger. A police union source told the AFP news agency that the student appeared to have picked up a sting-ball grenade fired by riot police, which exploded in his hand. However, eyewitness accounts differ; a girl quoted by regional media said the teenager did not pick up the grenade, and prosecutors said investigators had yet to establish whether he picked up the device or whether it landed on him. The French police watchdog, the General Inspection of the National Police (IGPN), has launched an investigation.

The grenade incident marked an escalation in a wave of protests that began in late September at a high school in a Parisian suburb in support of striking teachers. The movement has since spread nationwide, with students blockading hundreds of schools to demand improved conditions and staffing levels. Around 500 schools were partially or totally closed on Monday, with 589 schools reported disrupted according to figures from Le Monde. Since the protests began, at least 190 students have been injured, and more than 5,000 people—87% of them minors—have been arrested. Another student, Eden, 14, suffered a double jaw fracture after being struck in the head by a tear gas grenade in a separate incident the previous week.

The government and human rights organisations have clashed over police tactics. Amnesty International France and the French Human Rights League criticised what they described as disproportionate force against minors, citing reports of students being hit with batons and subjected to tear gas and rubber-bullet fire. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has said demonstrations were policed in "an extremely proportionate manner," while Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu stated on Sunday that the government would make "no concessions to violence." Education Minister Édouard Geffray reported that 24 schools had been burned or ransacked, and 78 teaching staff had been injured. The government announced measures to address student demands, including filling teacher shortages and overhauling school buildings, but the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL), a major organiser, said the government had offered "nothing concrete."

Organisers have called for a national day of action on Tuesday in response to what they describe as "unprecedented repression of the movement" and political deadlock. The teachers' union SNES-FSU and political figures including hard-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon have voiced support for the demonstrations. Student grievances centre on a lack of teaching staff, overcrowded classes, and deteriorating infrastructure. A fertility spike in France in 2010 led to increased high school enrolment, but secondary schools have fewer teachers than in 2008 despite an additional 250,000 students. In the public sector, 70% of classrooms have more than 30 pupils per class. The wave of unrest comes months before France's presidential election next year.