Riot police gas lycée students

French riot police fired tear gas at lycée students at a demonstration during a visit to a Paris school by Prime Minister Françios Fillon.

Police said a gendarme was injured in the scuffles, and three youths were arrested, one carrying a knife.

They fired the gas when pupils threw their school folders at the officers.

They were among the 150 demonstrators outside the school, which Fillon had chosen to highlight the government's education policies.

Mr Fillon said: "Demonstrations are not the way to solve problems."

Fillon, who was booed by demonstrators as he arrived shortly after the violent clashes, was accompanied by Justice Minister Rachida Dati and Education Minister Xavier Darcos.

France has faced months of protests and strikes over government plans to cut 22,900 civil servant jobs including 11,200 in education this September and another 35,000 next year, mostly by not replacing retiring staff.

"Ladies and gentlemen ministers, you are not welcome," read flyers being handed out outside the school.

Higher Education Minister Valerie Pecresse received a similar welcome during a trip to Toulouse University in the southwest, where 300 to 400 students and researchers rallied against an ongoing reform of French universities.

Photo: AFP