France to shutter up to 500 schools as more student protests called

What the report says

France is preparing to fully or partially close as many as 500 schools on Monday as student protests continue to spread and turn increasingly violent, according to Al Jazeera. Education Minister Edouard Geffray said the closures were a precaution because security conditions had not been met, and said lessons would be suspended in roughly 400 to 500 high schools as the government seeks a “partial, progressive return to lessons.”

The demonstrations began in mid-September in the Paris region and have since expanded nationwide, driven by complaints over class sizes, teacher shortages, long school days and other grievances. Organisers are now calling for students to resume large-scale protests on Tuesday, saying the government has not offered concrete measures in response.

Al Jazeera reported that at least 24 schools have been burned or ransacked since the unrest began, while 170 students and 78 education staff have been injured. The Ministry of National Education said at least 400 of France’s 3,700 high schools were closed on Friday and 560 experienced protests or disruption, indicating the scale of the disruption to the school system.

The unrest comes amid broader criticism of police tactics and concerns about the role of outside political groups. French officials have said more than 5,000 people were arrested in the past week, most of them minors, while rights group Amnesty International has urged authorities to listen to the students rather than repress them. In general, the protests highlight growing frustration over public education conditions and the challenge facing the Macron government in restoring order while addressing the underlying complaints.