PARIS — France faces widespread secondary school closures Monday as students continue demonstrations that have seen clashes with police, property damage, and street violence across several major cities. Between 400 and 500 schools are expected to be fully or partially closed, according to the Ministry of Education.
Education Minister Édouard Geffray said 400 to 500 classes were suspended Friday due to the unrest. He anticipates a similar number of closures Monday, though with gradual partial resumption of classes in some locations. The ministry reported that 24 of the 735 schools impacted by the protests have been set on fire or ransacked. Additionally, 78 ministry staff members have sustained injuries since the events began.
Demonstrations have seen protesters set rubbish bins and other objects ablaze while throwing projectiles at security forces. School buildings and street furniture have sustained damage. Police have intervened repeatedly to disperse demonstrators, employing tear gas, rubber bullets, defensive ball launchers, and batons.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez defended the security forces' actions Sunday morning, rejecting claims of a disproportionate response. Police do not repress young people but protect pupils and students who seek to advance their demands peacefully, Nuñez said. Interventions are conducted "firmly and without delay" to halt damage, violence, and abuses, he added. Nuñez also denied that security forces specifically target "racialised young people from working-class neighbourhoods," calling such assertions "a blaming narrative totally disconnected from the real world."
The Interior Ministry reported nearly 5,000 arrests since the protests began last Monday. The movement originated two weeks ago at Saint-Exupéry secondary school in Créteil, in the Paris suburbs, initially in support of striking teachers denouncing a lack of staff and resources.
Students are demanding safer and more sanitary school buildings, smaller classes, and manageable timetables. They cite staff shortages leading to teacher absences that are not systematically covered. Some students are also challenging the ban on mobile phones in schools.
Geffray met with pupil representatives Friday morning. After the meeting, the representatives said they had secured no "concrete measures" and called for the movement to continue into the coming week.
