France promises 3,000 extra teachers in first step to calm student protests

Education minister Edouard Geffray makes the offer after another day of sometimes violent demonstrations by high-school students. Thousands gathered at the Bastille in Paris hours before the French government made its first concession to the students The French government has made its first sign of giving ground to teenage protesters, with a promise of 3,000 extra supply teachers in the coming days. Education minister Edouard Geffray made the offer in a television interview on Thursday evening, at the end of another day of sometimes violent demonstrations by high-school students. The government says 6,877 people have been arrested, 86% of whom are under the age of 18, since protests began centred around demands for more resources in secondary education.

In what unions have billed as Act Four of the three-week movement, some 71,000 people staged protests across the country on Thursday, with 24,000 gathering at the Bastille in Paris. Police once again intervened with tear-gas to disperse groups who attacked them with paving stones and homemade fireworks. In Bordeaux, a lycée, or high school, was ransacked by protesters, and in Marseille a deputy-head was beaten up. On Friday, some 140 lycées – out of 3,500 – were totally or partially closed, a big drop on previous days. But another day of action has been called for next Tuesday. Geffray's announcement was