Greta Thunberg joins French student protests as about 200 schools close

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg joined students at Paul Éluard high school in Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, on Tuesday morning, according to Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera reported that she stood among the demonstrating students. Thunberg told the AFP news agency: "Young people are not being included in the conversation. Our future is being robbed away from us."

France 24 reported that students are protesting for a fourth consecutive week over poor school conditions, including teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating facilities. According to Al Jazeera, the protests began in late September, with students demanding improvements to school buildings, action on a lack of teachers and less crowded class schedules. Students have piled up bins and erected security barriers outside hundreds of schools across the country, Al Jazeera reported.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on France Inter on Tuesday morning that about 200 schools were closed, which he said was "fewer than last week", and that some schools near protest routes were closing to avoid damage, according to Al Jazeera. France 24 also reported around 200 schools closed amid the mobilisation. Al Jazeera reported the Ministry of National Education said eight teaching staff were injured on Monday due to the protests, mostly in the Paris region and in Bordeaux and Lyon.

Al Jazeera reported that more than 70,000 people took to the streets on Thursday 8 October in the latest major protest event. It reported that unions and the left-wing opposition party France Unbowed are backing Tuesday's demonstration, which is expected to include a march through Paris and marches in other cities. Al Jazeera reported that wider public rallies against the rising cost of living are expected on Saturday 17 October.

According to Al Jazeera, the Ministry of Justice says more than 6,800 people, mainly minors, have been taken into police custody over the course of the protests. Police have opened investigations into 24 allegations of brutality against demonstrators, Al Jazeera reported. It also reported that lawyers in robes formed a human chain to protect teenagers following numerous allegations of police brutality at demonstrations.

President Emmanuel Macron told reporters at a car show on Monday 12 October that he urged protesters to exercise restraint, saying: "These are issues that deserve time, consultations, discussion and respect." The university student union l'Union said on X: "They're not listening to us, so we're going to them," according to Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera also reported that Leo, a 19-year-old graphic design student in Paris, told AFP that students "aren't being heard enough … not their proposals to authorities and elected officials", and that protesters, many of them minors, were "disturbed by the level of repression never before seen for a student movement".