Hundreds of Thousands March Across France in Support of Schoolchildren's Demands

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in cities across France on Saturday, 24 October, in largely peaceful protests backing schoolchildren's demands for more teachers and repairs to dilapidated school buildings, The Guardian reported.

The French government estimated that at least 400,000 people marched nationwide. Trade unions put the number at twice that.

In Paris, at least 110,000 people marched along the eastern edge of the city, according to government estimates. Protesters there voiced support for high school students and complained about the high cost of living.

Violence broke out at the end of the Paris march, at Porte de Vincennes. Groups of masked men dressed in black, who had not appeared to take part in the peaceful march, threw glass bottles and stones at police. Officers responded with teargas, water cannon and stun grenades, a type of explosive device that makes a loud bang and bright flash to disorient people.

Elsewhere, police fired teargas to stop protesters in Lyon, Lille, Montpellier, Nantes and Toulouse from reaching city centres. In Marseille, bin fires were lit during clashes with police.

Protesters in Paris said the government had sent riot police to target school protesters over the past month, instead of offering political solutions. Protesters also criticised Emmanuel Macron for banning non-union demonstrations deemed "illegitimate" and for keeping protesters away from city centres.

France's interior ministry, which oversees the police, said there had been almost 1,000 arrests during the protests. More than 70,000 police were deployed on the streets of French cities, with shops boarded up and many museums closed.

The current wave of protest grew out of school unrest that began in early October. Riot police clashed with high school students across France on Friday, 2 October, and unions called on teachers to strike. Blockades of schools continued after the prime minister made promises whose details were not specified.

The protests have also turned violent before. During the previous Saturday's unrest, public buildings were burned and hundreds of shops were destroyed and looted, and at least 2,700 people were arrested across France, according to The Guardian.