‘Our future is being stolen’: Greta Thunberg joins students protesting in Paris

Swedish activist stands alongside French teenagers calling for investment to fix teacher shortages and crumbling schools

The Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has joined demonstrating high school students in France as the country braced for another day of nationwide protests over chronic teacher shortages, overcrowded classes and crumbling buildings.

As lawyers in their robes formed a human chain to protect pupils after multiple accusations of police brutality, she added: “Our future is being stolen from us and, as we have seen here, schools are not getting the investment they need.”

Marches around the country drew more than 260,000 protesters last Tuesday and a further 75,000 on Thursday, according to interior ministry figures, and are expected to be repeated on Tuesday in several major cities including the French capital.

French authorities had been hoping that the protests, some of which have resulted in violent clashes with French riot police, would ease up and eventually fizzle out during the two-week half-term school holidays due to start this weekend.

French media have reported, however, that at least some classes have been cancelled or disrupted in many more schools, and some lycées – for pupils mostly aged between 15 and 18 – have switched wholly or partly to online learning.

President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for restraint, saying the issues “deserve time, consultations, discussion and respect”, as government figures showed more than 6,800 people – mainly minors – had been detained during the protests.

One young protester has lost a hand from a police stun grenade, prompting the government to ban their use during the protests, while another lost the use of an eye and a third many of his teeth from a teargas canister fired at close range.

The far-right frontrunner, Marine Le Pen, has highlighted the damage to schools and called for parents ⁠to foot repair bills, while her radical-left opponent, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has praised the protesters ​as “incredible” and denounced police brutality.