It’s on again “the war” near the Joliot-Curie high school, in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine), Thursday, October 13. “We are confined to the establishment and we are waiting for things to calm down”, says Teresa, a French teacher at this establishment, which has nearly 1,700 students. Outside, clashes between young people and the police resumed Thursday morning, after the return to calm and the “dead day” from yesterday.
Fourteen young people, including twelve minors, were placed in police custody on Tuesday following a mobilization organized in front of the school by the council for high school life (CVL). This blockade, which many students and teachers described as “peaceful”, quickly escalated on Tuesday morning, culminating in violent clashes between students and police. Several high school students and two police officers were injured and thes images of this confrontation were massively shared on social networks.
In front of the high school gates, a few groups of students still stunned were waiting for Wednesday afternoon to enter the establishment, while many parents have decided not to send their children to class until the situation is resolved. For many of these high school students, the violence employed by law enforcement on Tuesday is “inadmissible”. “At the beginning, everything was calm”describes Mohamed, a second-year student: “The head of the CVL, at the origin of the mobilization, shouted the demands and the rest of the students repeated after him.” “The police had been present since 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday, armed with shieldssays Julie, French teacher at Joliot-Curie. Inevitably, it tensed the situation with the students.
According to the testimonies of several students and teachers, it is “around 9.30 a.m.” that clashes broke out with the police. The police men, “with shields”began to “charge the young”armed with tear gas and disencirclement grenades. “The police did not respect anyone, not even passers-by, who had nothing to do with the mobilization”, says Kheiry, a second-year student. For its part, the Hauts-de-Seine prefecture strongly condemned the violence in front of the school. “The security forces were taken to task by several individuals. They were the targets of both projectile throwing and mortar fire”the prefecture wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
Several high school students say they have come across “five or six students in wheelchairs” Tuesday morning, transported to the school infirmary after being hit by tear gas. A story that is also confirmed by Julie, the French teacher: “We were running in all directions to try to be with the students. Because of the tear gas shots, many had to be taken care of.”
The mobilization at Joliot-Curie really began on Monday when the CVL organized a blockade and distributed leaflets in front of the establishment. Main demand: the return of homework assistance, a device which had to be withdrawn since the start of the school year due to a lack of means. “We no longer even have the means to ensure a correct education for students”laments Chloé, a French teacher.
A delegation of students was received Monday afternoon by the management. But the answers given were not enough. “The direction told them that an association was going to be contacted for homework helpexplains Chloe. But in reality, what students are asking for is help from their teachers.” Dissatisfied, the high school students therefore decided to renew the mobilization on Tuesday in front of the establishment.
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Another point of tension: several decisions concerning the authorization, or not, of the wearing of certain clothing within the establishment. According to Teresa, these altercations with the management would be linked to a toughening of the government on the subject of abayas, a feminine garment worn above the others, traditionally in the countries of Muslim culture in the Middle East.
In early October, the Secretary of State for Citizenship, Sonia Backès, had declared on franceinfo that National Education staff could “to refuse” access to an establishment for pupils wearing this type of clothing, which, according to her, constitutes a “religious marker”. Contacted by franceinfo on Thursday morning, the rectorate ensures that there is no hunting for a specific dress code: “LThe dialogue continues, in particular to answer students’ questions concerning the application of the principle of secularism..
This week of mobilization at Joliot-Curie high school is more generally part of a context of strong tensions with the rectorate since the start of the school year. In particular because of: a transfer order aimed at Kai Terada, teacher in the establishment and departmental co-secretary of Sud Education 92. This mathematics teacher received this decision at the end of September, which evokes an activity “outside the establishment’s social dialogue bodies or the normal exercise of union activity”. He has been contesting it ever since.
“He does not understand the reasons for this decision and the rectorate has still not given him any”deplores Elvis Bruneaux, departmental co-secretary of Sud Education 92. However, he adds: “He is accused of going on strike.” The union seized the Defender of Rights last week, specifies Releasefor “abusive recourse to transfers in the interest of the service and union repression against militants of Sud Education.” To support Kai Terada, an inter-union mobilization was already organized at the end of September in front of the Ministry of National Education, in Paris, and a second was held almost everywhere in France on Tuesday, at the same time as the blockade in front of the school.
All the young people in police custody have been released, the prosecution told franceinfo Thursday at midday. The judicial body has already summoned three young people on December 1 before the juvenile court, to answer for facts qualified as “aggravated violence against a person holding public authority and with a weapon”. The prosecution also indicates that investigations are continuing to determine precisely the role of the others in custody in the clashes.