Student protests in France leave hundreds of schools closed

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The protests, which began in high schools in the Paris region last week, have spread quickly to many parts of the country.

Students are protesting against a range of issues including teacher shortages and school buildings that are falling apart.

French Education Minister Edouard Geffray told broadcaster France 2 on Thursday that “there are a little over 400 schools and other educational establishments that I know of that will be closed.”

Police have made hundreds of arrests in clashes with the protesters.

Authorities have reported many dozens of injuries, including from hurled objects but also, in some suspected cases, from police riot-control projectiles.

At a Paris high school where students barricaded an entrance, teenager Salama Gargouri said protesters want to target “overloaded schedules, the system, the teachers, people who don’t listen to us, the university application process.”

Arson, thrown projectiles and other violence on the margins of some protests have caused mounting injuries and recriminations.

The interior minister has issued orders for police to break up blockades that prevent pupils from attending classes and to put a stop to violence and vandalism.

Juliette Estiville, a high school Spanish teacher, said that the repression of the protests led her to join the students.

“So, I’m here just to provide protection, to form a barrier between the police and the students,” she said. “And indeed, today went well, it’s going well, but I really think that the teachers who come to the blockades are really just there to protect our young people.”

Left-wing presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Melenchon said he was “very worried about the police violence against young people.”

Mr Melenchon added: “We are in favour of non-violent methods of struggle,” and supported the spread of the protests to the universities.

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