Hundreds of High Schools Closed in France as Student Protests Escalate

Around 400 high schools across France were closed on Friday due to ongoing student protests that have been underway for a week, during which dozens of staff members were injured and police arrested approximately 2,000 people, according to officials.

The protests began last week in the Paris region before rapidly spreading nationwide, with final-year high school students blocking school entrances and clashing with police.

Students say that school hours are excessively long and that conditions in schools are inadequate, including high temperatures in classrooms, as well as frequent staff absences.

French Education Minister Edouard Philippe stated that “the high school student movement has become hostage to small, highly violent groups,” adding that around 400 of the country’s 3,700 high schools were expected to close on Friday.

Speaking to BFMTV, Philippe said that at least 65 staff members had been injured since the protests began, including 40 high school principals.

For his part, Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said he had asked public prosecutors to hold parents responsible for the damage caused by their children during the protests and to compel them “to cover the cost of repairs.”

Darmanin told RTL radio that around 2,000 people had been placed in police custody since the start of the protests, “90 percent of them minors.”