France Closes Hundreds of Schools Amid Student Protests

Up to 500 schools across France are set to close partially or entirely on Monday following recent clashes between riot police and student protesters, according to French Education Minister Édouard Geffray.

Lessons will be suspended in an estimated 400 to 500 high schools as security conditions have not been met, Geffray stated Sunday. He noted that 24 schools have been burned or ransacked since the protests began.

Thousands of students have been demonstrating nationwide over education standards, with protests spreading from Paris to cities including Montpellier, Nantes, and Marseille. High school students are protesting a lack of teachers, overcrowded classrooms, and deteriorating school buildings.

On Friday, French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin reported that 735 of France's 3,700 schools had been affected by the protests in some capacity. Geffray indicated that the number of schools potentially impacted on Monday could be similar to Friday's figures, though he anticipated a gradual return to classes.

Geffray attributed the escalating violence to "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 expressed concern that this poses a risk to both staff and students, noting that 78 education staff members had been wounded, a figure he described as unprecedented.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez reported that 1,747 individuals were arrested on Friday in connection with the demonstrations.