France to Suspend Lessons at Up to 500 Schools Amid Student Protests

Lessons will be fully or partly suspended at between 400 and 500 French high schools on Monday, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said, as authorities respond to a nationwide student protest movement marked by both education grievances and outbreaks of violence. Geffray said the closures were necessary because security conditions had not been met. He described the measure primarily as a precaution ahead of large demonstrations called for Tuesday and said a gradual return to lessons would follow.

The estimate is a range rather than a final count, and the reports do not specify how many schools will be completely closed or how long individual interruptions will last. The disruption is expected to be particularly significant around Paris. Valerie Pecresse, president of the wider Ile-de-France region, told Franceinfo that more than a third of its 468 schools would be shut.

The movement began at a Paris school on September 17 before spreading nationally, according to the reports. Students have cited high rates of teacher absence, excessive school hours, inadequate learning materials and deteriorating buildings. Organisers say the government has not offered concrete measures and have called for protests to continue on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has responded with a timetable urging local authorities to prioritise filling vacant posts and has scheduled a meeting with regional presidents on school-building repairs. The protests have also involved serious damage and clashes. Geffray said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked and that 78 education workers had been injured.

Earlier figures reported by DW said 735 teaching establishments had been affected on Friday, with more than 400 schools and colleges closed that day; it also reported around 2,000 arrests at that stage. The newer reports give a higher figure of more than 5,000 arrests, 85 per cent involving minors. Officials and protesters offer sharply different accounts of the security response.

Geffray said far-left activists had infiltrated and hijacked the movement, while Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said security forces were protecting students who wanted to express their views peacefully. Amnesty France accused police of disproportionate violence, including the use of tear gas and batons. Student placards and speakers likewise criticised the police response.

Individual incidents have deepened tensions. A 16-year-old was detained over the assault of a teacher in La Ciotat, who was struck and doused with petrol. In Belfort, footage showed youths beating a policeman; two Bulgarian teenagers, aged 15 and 17, were arrested and investigated.

Organisers have urged demonstrators to remain non-violent, but Tuesday’s planned mobilisation will test whether the movement can continue while schools remain under heightened security measures.