Around 500 schools in France to remain shut or partially closed amid student protests

Paris: Around 500 secondary schools in France are expected to remain shut or partially closed on Monday as another day of mobilisation is planned for Tuesday, after several days of protests which involved clashes with police, damage to schools, and violence on roads.

During the protests held in various parts of France, rubbish bins and other objects were set on fire, projectiles were thrown at law enforcement personnel, and school buildings and street furniture were damaged. Police have used tear gas, rubber bullets, defensive ball launchers (LBDs), and batons to disperse some protesters.

On Sunday, France's Ministry of Education said that classes would be "totally or partially" suspended in 400-500 secondary schools where security conditions "are not met," Euro News reported.

During his interviews with TV channel France 2 and radio station France Inter, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said that there were "between 400 and 500 suspended classes" on Friday, and "there will probably be just as many on Monday, but with a gradual, partial resumption of classes." Geffray said that 24 of the 735 schools impacted by the protests have been "set on fire or ransacked" and that "78 staff members" from the Ministry of Education have been injured since the protests started in France.

On Sunday, Interior Minister Laurent Nunez defended the actions of the law enforcement personnel, saying that they do not repress young people but "protect and supervise" students who want to peacefully raise their demands.

"The law enforcement forces of the Republic do not repress young people but protect and supervise students and pupils who wish to peacefully carry out their demands. On the other hand, they intervene with firmness and without delay to put an end to the degradations, violence, and abuses committed by troublemakers, and this with proportionality under the oversight of their hierarchy, and where appropriate, of the Justice system," Nunez posted on X.

"In the face of serious and unfounded accusations of so-called brutal and disproportionate interventions that would moreover be directed against "racialized youth from working-class neighborhoods," I obviously wish to reject this outright and once again offer my full support to the internal security forces that I lead, thanking them for their unwavering commitment in recent days as part of the high school movement and for the days to come. They deserve something other than this kind of totally disconnected accusatory rhetoric from the real world. It is very serious and very worrying," he added.

Protests at the Saint-Exupery secondary school in France's Creteil began two weeks ago in support of teachers who held strikes against shortage of staff and resources. The protests then gradually spread across France over the past week, Euro News reported.

Students have criticised unsafe and insanitary buildings, overcrowded classes and timetables that they say are not able to cope with the lack of staff, and they are not systematically covered due to the absence of teachers. Some students have expressed their views against the ban on mobile phones in schools.

On Friday, Education Minister Geffray met representatives of the students. Following the meeting, the representatives said that they did not obtain any "concrete measures" and called for the movement to continue next week.

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