France to Shut Up to 500 Schools on Monday as Student Protests Escalate

French education authorities announced on Sunday that as many as 500 high schools will be either fully or partially closed when the new week begins, following several days of increasingly violent confrontations between riot police and student demonstrators across the country.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray confirmed that lessons would be "totally or partly suspended" at somewhere between 400 and 500 secondary schools, explaining that the necessary security conditions "have not been fulfilled" in those locations.

The minister also revealed that 24 schools have been "burned or ransacked" since the unrest first erupted last week, underscoring the physical toll the demonstrations have taken on France's educational infrastructure.

The protests, which began over concerns about declining education standards, have expanded well beyond the French capital. Demonstrations have now been reported in cities including Montpellier in the south, Nantes in the west, and Marseille on the Mediterranean coast.

At the heart of the students' grievances is what they describe as a chronic shortage of teachers, severely overcrowded classrooms, and deteriorating school buildings that have suffered from years of underinvestment.

Students and their supporters argue that these conditions have made it increasingly difficult to receive a quality education, and they accuse the government of failing to address these structural problems despite repeated warnings.

The scale of the disruption became clearer on Friday when Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin stated that 735 of France's approximately 3,700 schools had been affected "one way or another" by violent protests. That figure represents roughly one-fifth of all secondary schools in the country.

While the education minister acknowledged that Monday's closures could approach Friday's numbers, he sought to strike a somewhat reassuring tone, pledging a "partial, progressive return to lessons" as authorities work to restore calm.

Geffray also leveled blame at what he characterized as outside agitators, claiming that "activists — particularly from the far-left — have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence."

"Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students," he added, describing the situation as a serious threat to the safety of everyone inside France's schools.

The human cost of the unrest has been significant for educators as well. Geffray reported that 78 education staff members have been wounded since the protests began, a figure he described as "something we have never seen before" in the history of French education.

The government's response has been firm. According to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, 1,747 people were arrested on Friday alone. The AFP news agency reports that more than 5,000 people have been taken into custody since the movement started, with approximately 85 percent of those arrested being minors.

The involvement of such a high proportion of underage individuals has raised alarm among officials and observers, prompting questions about how young people became so deeply engaged in a movement that has turned violent in certain locations.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu addressed the crisis on Sunday, outlining a series of measures his government is pursuing to "address the difficulties faced by high school students and educational staff."

Among these steps, Lecornu said the government would work to ensure classes continue, improve school facilities, better organize school days, and make the French university admissions platform more transparent for students navigating the transition to higher education.

The prime minister also said the government is accelerating its review of a "vandal-pays" bill, legislation designed to ensure that those responsible for causing damage bear the financial cost of their actions.

Despite these overtures, protest organizers remain unsatisfied. They have called for demonstrations to continue on Tuesday, accusing the government of failing to offer "concrete measures" that would genuinely address the root causes of the unrest.

The ongoing standoff presents a considerable challenge for the French government, which must balance the imperative of maintaining public order with the need to respond credibly to legitimate concerns about the state of the nation's education system.

For parents and students alike, the uncertainty surrounding Monday's school closures adds another layer of disruption to an already turbulent period. Thousands of families will need to make alternative arrangements as they await further guidance from education authorities.

The coming days will prove critical in determining whether the government's proposed reforms and its firm stance on security can together defuse a movement that has drawn international attention and exposed deep fractures in France's approach to secondary education.