Last updated: 29/11/07
Protest shuts down Paris uni

A university in Paris was shut down last month, due to violence between students protesting decisions made by President Nicolas Sarkozy and students trying to get to class.

Protesters had been blocking the entrances to the Sorbonne campus of the University of Paris for several days, which led to ‘physical violence against students who wanted to go to class’ the administration of the university said in a statement.

“People’s safety is no longer guaranteed” and therefore the campus was closed until the following week, the statement said.

48 of France’s 85 universities were either partially or entirely blocked off by protesters, when several thousand university and high school students all over France protested against a government reform which may lead to the privatisation of top French universities.

The French Government has dismissed claims that the move is politically motivated and Sarkozy reportedly refuses to back down on the law, which has already been changed due to student complaints.

This is the first time Sorbonne Campus has been shut down since spring last year, when angry students protested over a job law, which shattered universities all over France.

by Lucy Tant