French school protests spread nationwide as hundreds are detained

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called a crisis cabinet meeting on Thursday as protests over conditions in high schools spread across the country and increasingly involved clashes, fires and property damage.

Police reported about 900 demonstrations, blockades and related incidents outside high schools on Thursday, with more than 160 schools closed and access blocked to about 30 university campuses. Some schools were preparing to move classes online to protect students and staff.

The movement began last week in the Paris region before spreading to cities including Bordeaux, Lyon, Lille, Marseille and Strasbourg. Students have cited overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, heavy workloads, deteriorating buildings and inadequate heating and cooling. Student representatives have defended the blockades as a legitimate response to those conditions.

Authorities detained 625 people on Wednesday, when protests affected 356 schools, according to the Interior Ministry. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 83 police officers and gendarmes and 32 teachers and students were injured that day. The Guardian reported Thursday that more than 80 police and firefighters and 120 students and teachers had been injured since the start of the protests.

Officials condemned attacks involving projectiles and attempted arson, while President Emmanuel Macron said students’ concerns were legitimate but did not justify violence. The Interior Ministry also opened an internal investigation after allegations that police used excessive force against three students. Education Minister Édouard Geffray was due to meet student representatives on Friday.