French protests over declining school standards amid China catch-up ambitions turn violent

France experienced a weekend of shocks as weeks-long high school student protests for better study environments were hijacked by violent looters across major cities, angered by rising fuel prices and an ongoing cost of living crisis.While the rallies saw hundreds of thousands protest peacefully, clashes over the weekend led to chaotic scenes: hundreds of shops were pillaged, the historic city hall of Limoges was burned down and multiple public buildings across cities like Paris, Marseilles and Bordeaux were attacked.In his televised speech to the French people on Sunday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a clear distinction between those who destroyed properties and the peaceful protesters.“For several weeks, our youth have been expressing a deep anxiety in high schools and universities, worrying for their future, their living and study conditions … the idea that they will not have a desirable future,” Macron said, vowing that their voices “will be heard”.This grievance behind the protests points to issues with France’s education system that analysts say could threaten the country’s ambition to innovate and catch up with the US and China.In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) last Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report published last month, France has only 9.8 per cent of top performers – those who reached level 5 or 6 – in science, reading or mathematics, compared to 55.5 per cent for mainland China, covering students from Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.“It shows that in terms of people that are top performers, that in theory will have the best jobs will have the capacity to innovate, the proportion is decreasing [for France] every PISA cycle … now action should be taken,” said Eric Charbonnier, an education analyst at the OECD.