Macron puts money on the table to calm mass protests

The French government has announced 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) for university renovations and 4 billion euros in loans for local authorities to upgrade high schools, in a bid to defuse ongoing student protests across the country.

Reactions have been mixed with university student leaders dismissing government ministers as "totally clueless" and vowing to press on with protests that have disrupted the country for a month.

High school student representatives were more receptive but also pledged further demonstrations, reported The Times newspaper.

Earlier this week, France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu met leaders of the high school and university movements, while French President Emmanuel Macron traveled to Marseille, where shops were ransacked during looting on Oct 17.

The outgoing president, who must step down next spring, said it was "not normal for the country to be at boiling point six months before a presidential election".

Protests first erupted last month in high schools in eastern Paris suburbs, with students complaining about teacher shortages, crumbling buildings, overcrowded classrooms, and long school days.

Demonstrators also said the education system discriminated against ethnic minority students from poorer neighborhoods.

Unrest then spread to high schools across the country and merged with a separate wave of cost-of-living protests.

In his meeting with school and university union representatives, Lecornu pledged 15,000 additional places in higher education, particularly in vocational courses, and promised reforms to a university admissions system that critics say disadvantages students from working-class areas.

Responding to complaints about overloaded schedules, Lecornu promised that all high school students would be guaranteed at least one hour for lunch.

Around 1 billion euros will be released to renovate about 50 universities by 2031, he said. Regional councils, which oversee high school buildings, would receive loans of up to 4 billion euros to upgrade facilities that students describe as leaky, freezing in winter, and sweltering in summer.

Reforms to the university admissions system would begin next year, with a full replacement by 2028, the prime minister added.

But Manon Moret, general secretary of the National Union of Students of France, said the government was "totally clueless" and pledged further protests and school blockades.

Louis Letoublon, a high school union leader, said: "The government is afraid. We have got something, and we can take advantage of this situation to get more."

Letoublon added that the government had "not satisfied us on everything, and we are going to carry on until they do".

Unions are demanding 10 billion euros to improve the education system, but France's ability to spend is severely constrained while the country carries 3.6 trillion euros in debt and with economists warning the country risks needing a European Central Bank bailout if its annual deficit is not brought under control.