France to keep up to 500 schools partly or fully closed after student protests

France will partly or fully suspend classes at 400–500 high schools on Monday after a week of student protests marked by clashes with police and property damage.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray said the security situation remained unstable. He said 78 education staff had been injured and 24 schools had been burned or ransacked.

At least 5,000 people, mainly teenagers, have been arrested since the protest movement began, according to the report. Students and teachers are among those injured.

Protests over school conditions

The demonstrations began last week in the Paris region before spreading nationwide. Students are protesting overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and dilapidated buildings; unions are calling on teachers to strike.

Some protests involved street fires, masked demonstrators and clashes with police. Students and human rights groups have also criticised the heavy-handed tactics used by riot squads to clear demonstrations.

Police detained a 16-year-old on Sunday over an assault on a 59-year-old teacher who was doused with gasoline and beaten during a school protest. Organisers have called for further demonstrations on Tuesday, saying the government has not addressed their demands.

Paris police chief Patrice Faure urged students to end school blockades and return to peaceful forms of protest. He also told parents that “professional rioters” may have become involved.