France to Shut Up to 500 Schools as Student Protests Escalate Into Unrest

France's education minister announced on Sunday that as many as 500 high schools across the country will be either fully or partially closed on Monday, following several days of escalating confrontations between riot police and student demonstrators that have shaken the government and disrupted schooling nationwide.

Édouard Geffray said lessons would be "totally or partly suspended" at an estimated 400 to 500 lycées because safety conditions "have not been fulfilled." His announcement capped a turbulent weekend during which officials scrambled to assess the scale of damage caused by protests that began over education standards and have since spread well beyond the capital.

The unrest, which first erupted last week, has moved from Paris to a string of regional cities including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille. Students have voiced anger over what they describe as a chronic shortage of teachers, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating school buildings, grievances that organisers say the government has failed to tackle with sufficient urgency.

Geffray also revealed that 24 schools have been "burned or ransacked" since the demonstrations began, a figure that underscores the intensity of the violence that has accompanied some of the marches. The education minister warned that the number of schools potentially affected on Monday could be similar to Friday's total, though he promised a "partial, progressive return to lessons" as authorities seek to restore some semblance of normalcy.

The scale of Friday's disruption was laid out by Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin, who said 735 of France's roughly 3,700 schools had been affected "one way or another" by violent protests. The figure represents about one in five of the country's high schools and illustrates how quickly the movement has spread through the education system.

Geffray pointed the finger at radical elements he said had hijacked a legitimate student cause. "There are activists — particularly from the far-left — who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence," he claimed. "Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students." The accusation reflects a growing political battle over who is responsible for the disorder and mirrors a familiar pattern in French protest culture, where authorities often blame fringe groups for turning peaceful demonstrations violent.

The human toll has been considerable. Geffray said 78 staff members in the education system had been wounded, describing the number as "something we have never seen before." The injury figure is likely to intensify debate about whether police tactics or protester aggression, or both, are driving the casualties.

Arrests have also mounted rapidly. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 1,747 people were detained on Friday alone, while the AFP news agency reported that more than 5,000 people have been arrested since the movement began, with roughly 85% of them minors. The heavy involvement of under-18s has raised difficult questions about how the state should respond to children engaged in civil disobedience and whether the criminal justice system is equipped to handle such a volume of young detainees.

Organisers of the protests have shown no sign of backing down. According to AFP, they have called for demonstrations to continue on Tuesday, accusing the government of failing to deliver "concrete measures" in response to their demands. The decision to press ahead suggests that the standoff is far from resolved and that further disruption to schools and public order is likely in the coming days.

In an attempt to defuse the crisis, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Sunday that his government is taking additional steps to "address the difficulties faced by high school students and educational staff." Among the measures he outlined were ensuring that classes continue, improving school facilities, better organising the school day and making the French university admissions platform more transparent — a longstanding complaint among students who say the system lacks clarity and fairness.

Lecornu also said the government is accelerating review of its "vandal-pays" bill, which would ensure that those responsible for damaging property bear the cost of their actions. The proposal is designed to deter destruction and shift the financial burden of repairs away from taxpayers, though critics may argue it risks targeting young people disproportionately and could deepen resentment among protesters.

The crisis poses a significant political test for a government already under pressure on multiple fronts. School protests in France have historically carried outsized symbolic weight, tapping into deep-seated anxieties about the state of public education and social mobility. A prolonged standoff could energise broader discontent and complicate the government's legislative agenda, particularly if public sympathy shifts toward the students.

For families, the immediate consequences are practical and acute. Parents across the country face the prospect of finding alternative arrangements for children whose schools will not open on Monday, while teachers and staff confront questions about their own safety. The uncertainty is compounded by the possibility that closures could extend beyond a single day if security conditions do not improve.

The coming week will be decisive. If Tuesday's planned demonstrations proceed and clashes resume, pressure on ministers to find a negotiated settlement will grow. If the government's promised reforms are seen as too little or too slow, the protest movement may broaden further. Either way, the events of the past several days have made clear that France's education dispute has moved from the classroom to the centre of national politics.