Across Europe, a protest movement that began with French high-school students is increasingly finding echoes in neighbouring countries, as young people complain about overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, ageing school buildings, rising education costs and cuts to public spending.
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people → begin → spending
The unrest is not being organised as a single Europe-wide movement.
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unrest → organise → movement
Students are increasingly questioning whether governments are putting enough money into education at a time when schools and universities are struggling with staff shortages, infrastructure problems and higher costs.
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schools → question → shortages
France becomes the flashpoint
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France → become → ?
The movement began in the Paris region in mid-September, when high-school students and teachers protested over a lack of resources and staff.
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students → begin → resources
It quickly spread across France, with students blocking school entrances and later joined by university students, parents and trade unions.
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students → spread → students
Their complaints include overcrowded classrooms, teachers not being replaced when absent, long school hours, deteriorating buildings and inequalities between schools in wealthier and poorer areas.
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teachers → include → areas
Students have also raised concerns about the university admissions system and the pressure of the education system.
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Students → raise → system
French CRS riot police run past garbage bins and object set on fire amid clashes with protesters during a demonstration by high school and university students, supported by teachers' union and school parents, in Paris.
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police → run → Paris
The scale of the protests has grown considerably.
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scale → grow → protests
More than 6,500 people have been arrested since the movement began, most of them minors, while hundreds of schools have been disrupted.
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hundreds → arrest → schools
The protests have also led to clashes with police and serious injuries.
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protests → lead → police
The issue of police conduct has become a major part of the debate after a 15-year-old boy lost his hand during a confrontation in Lens.
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boy → become → Lens
The French government has since suspended the use of stun grenades in student protests and opened investigations into police conduct.
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government → suspend → conduct
The protests are also taking place against a difficult financial backdrop.
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protests → take → backdrop
The French government is under pressure to control its deficit while students and teachers are demanding greater investment in public education.
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students → control → education
The government has promised measures to address the concerns, but protesters say they want concrete changes rather than assurances.
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they → promise → assurances
From Belgium to Italy and Greece
The unrest has now crossed France's borders.
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unrest → cross → borders
In Belgium, hundreds of students took to the streets of Liège on Wednesday, citing rising education costs, overcrowded classrooms and limited access to study materials.
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hundreds → take → materials
The demonstrations have already resulted in arrests and clashes with police.
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demonstrations → result → police
The movement has echoes of protests in Brussels earlier this year over proposed education reforms, including an increase in tuition fees for students in Belgium's French-speaking community.
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movement → have → community
Belgian students have also openly linked their protests to what is happening across the border in France, showing how quickly the French movement has become a reference point for young protesters elsewhere.
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movement → link → protesters
A demonstrator wears a Spider-Man costume, on the day of a spontaneous street protest of high school students against education reforms introduced by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation government and an increase in student fees, in Liege, Belgium.
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demonstrator → wear → Liege
In Italy, high-school students have begun occupying schools in Turin and Rome under the slogan "Let's do as in France."
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's → begin → France
Their complaints include inadequate funding, deteriorating school buildings and the rising cost of living.
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complaints → include → living
Italian students have also travelled to Paris in solidarity with the French movement.
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students → travel → movement
Greece is also seeing mobilisation.
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Greece → see → mobilisation
Students have called nationwide school actions, including assemblies, walkouts, demonstrations and possible occupations.
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Students → call → assemblies
The immediate issues vary, but the broader demand is similar, with students seeking greater government investment in education.
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students → vary → education
A wider European problem
The protests extend beyond schools themselves.
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protests → extend → schools
In Ireland, thousands of university students have demonstrated in Dublin over tuition fees, higher-education funding and the cost of accommodation.
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thousands → demonstrate → accommodation
In Germany, students, teachers, parents and unions have demanded greater investment, more teachers and a fairer education system.
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students → demand → investment
Austria is facing another version of the same problem.
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Austria → face → problem
Student groups are preparing demonstrations after the country's university association warned of possible cuts of around €1 billion from the next three-year university budget.
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association → prepare → budget
Taken together, the protests point to a wider European tension.
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protests → take → tension
Governments are trying to control deficits and manage higher borrowing costs, while students and education workers are demanding more spending on services they say have already been stretched too far.
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they → try → services
That does not mean Europe is witnessing one coordinated student uprising.
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Europe → mean → uprising
Each country has its own education system, political circumstances and immediate grievances.
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country → have → system
But the French protests have provided a visible example for students elsewhere, while the underlying concerns are remarkably similar.
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concerns → provide → students
For many young Europeans, the argument is increasingly about what they are being asked to accept in classrooms and universities today, and whether governments are willing to spend enough to improve the education system they will depend on tomorrow.
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they → ask → system
The Aporia
