France Shuts Nearly 500 Schools as Student Protests Intensify

Up to 500 high schools across France will be partially or totally closed on Monday as clashes between riot police and student activists continue to spread nationwide.

The education minister, Édouard Geffray, warned that lessons will be totally or partly suspended in 400 to 500 schools due to security conditions that have not been met. He added that 24 schools have already been burned or ransacked since the protests began.

The demonstrations, which erupted last week, target a shortage of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated facilities. The protests have reached cities beyond Paris, including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille.

According to Interior Minister Laurent Núñez, 1,747 people were arrested on Friday alone, with over 5,000 arrests in total – most of them minors – since the movement started.

The government accuses far‑left activists of hijacking the student movement and instigating extreme violence, while threatening that a partial, progressive return to lessons will be restored as security improves.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has pledged additional measures, including improving school infrastructure, reorganising school days and accelerating the review of the vandal‑pays bill so that wrongdoers bear the cost of their actions.