Hundreds of French high schools close amid student protests

Hundreds of French high schools were fully or partly closed on Monday as protests over learning conditions continued ahead of nationwide demonstrations planned for Tuesday.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray had said 400 to 500 of France’s roughly 3,700 high schools would suspend at least some lessons because security conditions had not been met. More than a third of the 468 high schools in the wider Paris region were expected to close.

The movement began on September 17 at a school in the Paris area and spread nationwide. Students have cited teacher shortages and absences, overcrowded classes, long school days, deteriorating buildings and classrooms poorly equipped for high temperatures. On Monday, students demonstrated outside schools in Paris and Rennes, while police used tear gas amid clashes and property damage in Lille. A Paris high school was evacuated after masked people tried to force entry and started a fire, its principal said.

Geffray said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked and 78 education employees injured since the protests began. More than 5,000 people have been arrested, about 85% of them minors. Protesters and rights groups have accused police of disproportionate force, and internal investigations have opened into at least three alleged incidents of police brutality.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has urged local authorities to prioritize filling long-term staff vacancies and called a Tuesday meeting with regional leaders to discuss renovating school buildings. Protest organizers said demonstrations would continue because the government had not offered sufficient concrete measures.