Education Minister Edouard Geffray said lessons would be fully or partly suspended at 400 to 500 high schools on Monday because security conditions were not met.
Up to 500 French high schools were due to be fully or partly closed on Monday after days of student protests, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on Sunday.
He said lessons would be totally or partly suspended at 400 to 500 schools because security conditions had not been fulfilled. He also said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked since the protests began and that 78 education staff had been wounded.
Students have demonstrated over a lack of teachers, crowded classrooms and run-down buildings. The protests, which started last week, spread from Paris to cities including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille, the BBC reported.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 1,747 people were arrested on Friday. Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said 735 of France's 3,700 schools had been affected in some way by violent protests.
The Guardian reported that organisers called for further demonstrations on Tuesday, saying the government had not produced concrete measures. A full return to lessons was not announced.
People Sentiments Negative
- Students said they were protesting underfunding and neglect of schools.
- Geffray said staff injuries were something never seen before.
- Organisers called for renewed demonstrations on Tuesday.