Paris school protests: Students say conditions are 'unbearable'

Students in a Paris suburb say they are desperate to return to class, but conditions are so poor that protests must continue. Mohammed, 17, wakes at 6am on school days. He cares for his younger siblings to help his single mother, who works as a security guard. Then he takes two crowded buses and a local train to reach his high school in Sevran, a low-income banlieue (suburban town) north-east of Paris. "There aren't enough chairs or desks to go round, so some students have to stand up," Mohammed said. "Classes can be so packed you can't interact with the teacher." He added that during this year's heatwaves, temperatures felt like 40 degrees in overcrowded classrooms with no shade or curtains. "It was so hot my brain couldn't function," he said.