5 hours ago
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Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across France on Tuesday, as unions and teachers joined high school students who for days have been demanding better learning conditions in protests punctuated by violent confrontations.
Students have blocked the entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds since late September, complaining of missing teachers, overloaded timetables, dilapidated classrooms and buildings that cannot cope with rising temperatures.
Unions, rights groups and the children have accused the authorities of using disproportionate force -- a police stun grenade tore the hand off one teenager on Monday and another youngster had his teeth knocked out last week after police fired a grenade launcher at his head.
"I'm afraid for my future," Selma, 15, told AFP without giving her surname, among the thousands marching in the country's second largest city of Marseille.
