French Unrest: Are we witnessing a new 'Yellow Vests' movement?

Cover image: Jean Remi Girard is a teacher in Asnieres in the north of Paris, and the President of the National Union des Lycees and Colleges, covering education workers from primary schools to college, 7 until 18 © Sarah Meyssonnier, REUTERS

It's been 18 days since we first reported on isolated cases of schools protests at a high school in Rennes in Brittany, in Caen in Normandy and Villeneueve d'Asque on the suburbs of Lille. The complaints were similar in theme, overloaded timetables, staffing problems, poor facilities. It spread to Saint Denis and Creteil on the outskirts of Paris days later, one interview with the students was sen 1.4 million times on TikTok. It gathered pace, and morphed into what we've seen throughout the week, hundreds of protests, some peaceful, some with deeply distressing scenes, beyond the make shift barricades, a school in Nantes set off fire, firefighters forced out of the vehicle in Marseille and the fire engine set alight, scroll your socials itt's hard to miss some of the uglier scenes, a female police officer being attacked on the ground as youths shouted kill her. Where is it heading, and what has it become? Urban violence says the government, accusing agitators linked to the hard left exploiting geenuine concerns for political ends ahead of the election. Which La France Insoumise denies saying they favour no violent means of action. Today in Spotlight, we discuss this with Jean Remi Girard, a teacher in Asnieres in the north of Paris, and the President of the National Union des Lycees and Colleges, covering education workers from primary schools to college, 7 until 18.