France Shuts 500 High Schools As Student Protests Over Education Continue

The French education minister, Édouard Geffray, has said that approximately 500 schools across France will be either partially or totally closed on Monday in the wake of recent clashes between riot police and student protesters.

Geffray said that lessons will be "totally or partly suspended" in around "400 to 500" high schools as conditions required "have not been fulfilled", according to the BBC. He further added that 24 schools had been "burned or ransacked" after the start of the protests.

Thousands of students in France have taken to the streets over the issue of the standard of education. The protests began in Paris on September 17 and have since moved into Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille.

The protests have affected more than 1,200 high schools. Over 5,000 people have been arrested by the police since the start of the protests, and 85% of them are minors, according to the AFP news agency.

The education minister warned that school disruptions on Monday could match Friday’s scale, while promising a "partial, progressive return to lessons," as reported by the BBC. The warning points to another day of pressure on classes even as authorities signal some reopening.

In his statement, Geffray claimed, "There are activists - particularly from the far-left - who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence"

He further added that 78 staff members who were working in the education department have been wounded. He said, "Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students." According to him, it is something they have never seen before.

The Organisers of the protests have declared that the protest will continue on Tuesday, citing a lack of "concrete measures" from the government, according to France 24.

Reason Behind The Protests

The Union Syndicale Lycéenne stated that students want more teachers, cover for absent teachers, extra resources and better learning conditions. Crowded classrooms, too few staff, poor facilities and long teaching hours sit at the heart of the complaints. The protests began with secondary-school students before university students joined in later.

The Union Étudiante has extended the campaign to universities. It says higher education students are also dealing with staff shortages, worsening facilities and rising insecurity on campus.