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France is set to partially or completely close about 500 secondary schools on Monday as nationwide student protests continue to escalate.
Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on Sunday that lessons would be suspended in between 400 and 500 high schools because security conditions at the institutions could not be guaranteed.
He said the closures were primarily a precautionary measure ahead of large-scale demonstrations planned for Tuesday by leaders of the student movement.
According to Geffray, 24 schools have been “burnt or ransacked” since the protests began, while 78 education workers have been injured.
The minister said the number of schools affected on Monday would be similar to Friday’s figure, but expressed hope that classes would gradually resume.
“There will be a partial, progressive return to lessons,” Geffray said.
The protests began at a school in Paris on September 17 before spreading to other parts of the country. The demonstrations have been driven by students’ complaints over teacher shortages, lengthy school hours and deteriorating school facilities, among other grievances.
However, some demonstrations have been accompanied by violence, with clashes between protesters and security forces reported in several locations. Police have used tear gas and batons to disperse some groups.
Geffray accused far-left activists of infiltrating the movement and escalating tensions.
“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 claimed.
He said the situation posed a threat to both students and education workers.
“Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students,” the minister said, adding that some education workers were deliberately targeted because of their jobs.
The organisers of the demonstrations have called for further protests on Tuesday, arguing that the government has failed to introduce “concrete measures” to address the students’ concerns.
More than 5,000 people have reportedly been arrested since the movement began, with minors accounting for about 85 per cent of those detained.
The protests have also triggered controversy over police conduct. Amnesty International’s France branch accused security forces of using disproportionate force and urged authorities to allow students to demonstrate peacefully.
“Authorities must allow young people to exercise these rights without fear of being hit by tear gas grenades or batons, or being arbitrarily taken into police custody,” Amnesty France president Anne Savinel-Barras said.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez, however, defended the actions of security personnel, saying they were not targeting young people but protecting students who wanted to express their grievances peacefully.
The unrest has also resulted in several violent incidents involving students and security personnel.
In the southern town of La Ciotat, a 16-year-old was detained on Sunday over the alleged assault of a 59-year-old teacher during Friday’s protest. The teacher was reportedly doused with gasoline and struck during the incident.
In another case in Belfort, eastern France, youths were filmed attacking a police officer who had fallen to the ground. Two Bulgarian nationals, aged 15 and 17, were subsequently arrested and placed under investigation for suspected aggravated violence.
The authorities are now preparing for further demonstrations on Tuesday as efforts continue to contain the unrest and restore normal activities in schools.
