Education Minister Edouard Geffray said lessons would be fully or partly suspended in 400 to 500 high schools on Monday after weeks of student protests, injuries and school damage.
France planned to fully or partly close as many as 500 high schools on Monday as authorities prepared for another week of student protests. Education Minister Edouard Geffray said lessons would be totally or partly suspended in some 400 to 500 lycees because security conditions had not been met, Al Jazeera and the Irish Times reported.
Geffray said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked since the protests began and that at least 170 students and 78 education staff had been injured. The Irish Times reported more than 5,000 arrests, mostly of minors, during clashes with police. The ministry said at least 400 of about 3,700 high schools were closed on Friday and 560 faced protests or disruption.
Students have demonstrated since mid-September, beginning in the Paris region, over what they describe as underfunding and neglect of the education system. Organisers called for large demonstrations to resume on Tuesday, saying President Emmanuel Macron's government had not produced concrete measures.
Geffray framed Monday's closures as a precaution and spoke of a partial, progressive return to lessons. The weekend was quieter after last week's barricades and clashes.
Tuesday is the next date flagged by protest organisers. The education ministry has not published a school-by-school list in the reports cited here.
People Sentiments Negative
- Protest organisers said the government had not offered concrete measures.
- Geffray described the closures as a security precaution.