France shutters 500 high schools as student protests intensify

France's Education Minister Edouard Geffray said Monday that between 400 and 500 high schools had suspended classes as student protests demanding better resources spread nationwide, representing roughly 10% to 13% of the country's 3,700 secondary institutions, according to broadcaster BFMTV.

Protests spread nationwide

The demonstrations began in mid-September in the Paris region and intensified last week, with students calling for smaller classes, improved facilities and measures to address staff shortages. In Ile-de-France alone, more than 160 high schools closed Monday, while authorities reported fires at Vauquelin High School and blockades at Turgot High School in the capital.

Casualties and clashes

The Interior Ministry has recorded approximately 5,000 arrests since the movement began, around 85% of them minors in the Ile-de-France region. Twenty-four schools have been "burned or ransacked," Geffray said, while 170 students, 78 ministry staff and roughly 600 police officers have sustained injuries, including a 15-year-old seriously wounded by a police grenade in Lens on Monday.

Calls for justice reform

Republicans party leader Bruno Retailleau has proposed lowering the age of criminal responsibility to 15 following the arrest of a 17-year-old in Aix-en-Provence over an alleged assault. The French Human Rights League accused law enforcement of a broader "drift away from the rule of law" during interventions, as Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu put forward five proposals aimed at resolving the crisis before month’s end.