Mass brawls break out on the streets of a European capital; Shocking footage emerges PHOTO/VIDEO

The ministry stated that around 55,000 people took part in actions outside educational institutions, with only some of them later joining protest marches, BFM reports.

According to the ministry, no major incidents occurred during the officially reported and organized protest marches supported by trade unions.

However, the ministry pointed to an increase in urban violence on the fringes of peaceful student demonstrations.

Thursday’s demonstrations marked the fourth day of mobilization by high school and university students, who are demanding greater investment in education and better conditions in schools.

In Paris, thousands of demonstrators gathered at Place de la Bastille, where the rally initially proceeded peacefully. Police later asked the crowd to disperse, after which tensions escalated and clashes broke out between some demonstrators and police forces.

At Paris’s Assas University, known for its law faculty and traditionally more conservative student body, a blockade was organized for the first time yesterday, involving several hundred students from the university and other faculties.

Tensions were also reported in Strasbourg, where police used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray met with representatives of high school student organizations to discuss their demands. He announced an “emergency plan” to address problems with finding substitute teachers for absent staff, as well as changes to how high school students are represented within educational institutions.

Marie Mesnil, a representative of the High School Students’ Trade Union, said the minister had offered “just a few crumbs,” noting that students are demanding, among other things, the abolition of the Parcoursup university admissions system and an urgent plan to renovate school buildings.

However, he welcomed the decision not to proceed with the planned elimination of 1,588 teaching positions, describing it as a “first victory.”

Meanwhile, an investigation has been launched in Rennes following the publication of video footage showing a police officer striking a young man during earlier high school student protests. The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation to establish the circumstances of the incident.

In Belfort, three more minors were brought before a judge to determine their legal status as suspects following an attack on a police officer during the protests. They are between 16 and 17 years old, while two other minors involved in the same case had already been placed under investigation and prosecuted.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the La France Insoumise party, described yesterday’s gathering in Paris as a “powerful demonstration of youth” and announced a new mobilization for October 13.

An investigation has also been launched after a police officer in Paris struck a protester in the face with his knee, while in Marseille, an assistant principal at a high school was beaten after attempting to extinguish a fire in a pile of rubbish.