In France, new day of demonstrations against learning conditions, teaching gaps

High schoolers in France are taking to the streets once again. The protest this Tuesday, dubbed Act 5, comes ahead of a much larger demonstration planned for Saturday, which will see students join the Yellow Vest movement, public sector workers as well as farmers take to the streets. The convergence comes as the government seeks savings from next year's budget. Student and teacher unions have accused the Macron administration of offering no concrete solutions while continuing to crack down on demonstrators. This Tuesday, 90% of French universities have either been blocked or closed as well. For more on this story, we can go across to Claire Pacala, standing by at Place d'Italie in Paris, where today's demonstration is kicking off. Claire, what have students you've spoken with been telling you? Here I am, yes, at Place d'Italie in the 13th arrondissement. The students I've been talking to say they are planning to march from here to the 7th, to Place Vauban, which is right next to Les Invalides, of course, a very famous Parisian monument. Napoleon, his tomb is there. So it's quite a long walk. It's going to take them at least an hour. And if I can just step out of the frame now so you can have a look at some of the demonstrators who've decided to come here, fancy dress. Others, though, have come here to really keep up the pressure on the government because the government says it is listening. Sébastien Lecornu, the French prime minister, says he is listening to high school students' concerns. And we have seen announcements from the government last week. The Education Minister, Edouard Geoffray, said that he would be mobilising 3,000 teachers, high school student teachers, who could go into schools and replace missing or absent teachers. That's one of the big demands of this movement. There's also this online platform that's been open for more than a week now, so that high school students can go on and air their grievances. But for the people here today, some of them will have been blockading their high schools this morning, and they've come here to this demonstration to really keep up the pressure. And what's interesting is that today there's actually another march going on in a different part of Paris, starting at Hôtel de Ville, and those demonstrators will actually be meeting up with the ones here at Port-Royal, so en route. So this demonstration we expect over the course of the afternoon is going to get significantly bigger, Delano. And Claire, this demonstration, of course, comes days ahead of a much larger mobilization here in France where the students are going to be joining the Yellow Vest movement, farmers, public sector workers, as they all pressure the government for more funding. This is the government is trying to get more savings from next year's budget. Certainly on Saturday, it's not quite clear exactly what form the demonstrations will take. I've been speaking to young people here today telling me they understand that the Gilets Jaunes, the Yellow Vest, will be involved, but also there'll be a cross-section of different trade unions will be coming out to demonstrate against the cost of living and the high cost of petrol, of fuel. Of course, that has been sparked by the conflicts in the Middle East at the moment. Prices at the pumps are high here in France, and that was one of the big arguments of the Gilets Jaunes when their movement started back in 2018. What is the question mark, though, is how many high schoolers will actually be there on Saturday. It's not yet clear. The school holidays, the autumn holidays, two weeks, are starting on Friday afternoon. So high schoolers across France will have two weeks of holidays starting on Friday afternoon. Some of them will be going away. And some of them, they tell me, say that their parents actually don't want them to come to the demonstration on Saturday. And that is because of the presence of the Gilets Jaunes. We remember back in 2018 and 2019, those Gilets Jaunes, those yellow vest protests, were marked by significant unrest. And many families say they simply don't want their children, their teenagers, taking part on Saturday. So exactly how Saturday is going to look, we don't yet know, but expect a lot of disruption, particularly in transport networks, trains, metros, even air traffic as well. There's looking to be a disrupted day this Saturday here in France. Claire, thank you very much for that. Claire Baccala there. And as Claire was speaking, we were showing you images of the far left's Jean-Luc Mélenchon, presidential candidate for next year's election. and the government here in France have accused his party, France Unbowed, of stoking the ongoing student demonstrations here in France.