Cops, students fight in Paris
2008-04-04 09:11
Paris - Protestors clashed with riot police in Paris on Thursday at the start of a student march against education job cuts, as youths hurled drinks cans at security forces who charged at the crowd in response.
Police made several arrests following the incidents, which involved a small minority of the 15 000 youths taking part in the protest.
The climate remained tense for the rest of the day, with local shopkeepers shuttering their windows as the march snaked past them, from the Luxembourg gardens south of the River Seine across the Left Bank.
The students marched behind a banner reading "No, No, No to job cuts", in protest at government plans to cut some 11 000 jobs in secondary schools later this year.
Police also made half a dozen arrests on the sidelines of a small student demonstration in the south Paris suburb of Creteil, after a group of rioters smashed windows at a local technical school.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's government says the education staff cuts are justified by a fall in the number of high-school students, which dropped by 150 000 in the past three years.
But teachers, students and the left-wing opposition fear they presage deeper cuts in education spending, as part of a wider drive to slash France's budget deficit.
- AFP