France to shut up to 500 high schools amid student protests

France will fully or partly close as many as 500 high schools on Monday, Oct. 5. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said Sunday that classes will be "totally or partly suspended" at 400 to 500 lycées where security conditions "have not been fulfilled." He said 24 schools have been "burned or ransacked" since the student movement began on Sept. 17.bbc+1

The closures come after a quiet weekend. Student organisers have called a third nationwide day of action for Tuesday, Oct. 6, saying President Emmanuel Macron's government has not offered "concrete measures" to meet their demands.aljazeera+1

Closures and injuries

Geffray told France 2 and France Inter that Monday's figure would probably match Friday's, but he promised a "partial, progressive return to lessons." On Friday, about 400 of France's 3,700 high schools were closed, and the minister said 735 were affected "in one way or another." The Paris region is expected to be hit hardest, with more than 160 schools shut on Monday, Le Monde reported.unn+3

The minister said 78 education staff members have been injured, calling it "something we have never seen before." He added that "they were deliberately targeted because they were employees of the national education system." He also blamed outside agitators: "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." On Friday, he put the number of injured students at about 170.AFP.com+2

More than 5,000 people have been arrested since the movement began, and 85% of them are minors. A national police spokesperson said more than 600 officers have been injured. On Sunday, police detained a 16-year-old in Marseille over Friday's attack in La Ciotat, where a 59-year-old teacher was doused with petrol and beaten. In Tours, a young man lost the sight in his right eye after clashes with police, the local prosecutor said.euronews+2

Grievances and the government's response

The protests began at the Saint-Exupéry high school in Créteil, a Paris suburb, where students backed teachers striking over staff shortages. Students point to teachers who are absent and not replaced, crowded classrooms, run-down buildings and school days that can run from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.thejournal

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Sunday that the government would work to keep classes running, improve facilities, reorganise the school day and make the Parcoursup university admissions platform more transparent. He also said the government would speed up its "vandal-pays" bill, which would make people who join violent gatherings help pay for repairs. The Senate is due to take up the bill at the end of October.bbc+1

All of France's teachers' unions said Sunday they would join Tuesday's protest. "Their demands are legitimate," they said in a statement. Amnesty International France has criticised "disproportionate police violence." Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez rejected that charge, saying police "do not repress young people" but protect students who want to "advance their demands peacefully."euronews+1