OMM Redaksiyası
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Tuesday that high school classes would be suspended toward the end of the week to allow “a time for internal democracy” amid student protests and violence.
Lecornu said there could be “no room for tolerance for violence” and urged political leaders to stand with public servants affected by it.
“In a functioning democracy, individual responsibility of individuals, citizens, including minors, exists,” he said. “Burning down a high school does not improve the condition of high school buildings.”
He also said that attacking a teacher would not improve the rate at which teachers are replaced.
The student-led movement began in late September amid complaints about staff shortages, overcrowded classrooms and inadequate school facilities. Blockades and demonstrations have since spread to schools in several French cities.
Authorities say the largely peaceful protests have also included violent incidents, such as fires, property damage and attacks on school staff and police.
Addressing high school students injured by security forces during the mobilizations, Lecornu said accidents could happen and criticized the term “police violence.”
“Where there are accidents, there must be administrative and judicial investigations. There must be accountability and empathy,” he said.
Lecornu described the situation as “the heaviest toll in decades in the national education system” and said “ultraviolence has knocked on the door of these high schools.” He called the “normalization of violence” unacceptable and said justice would have to take its course.
