Hundreds of High Schools Closed in France Due to Student Protests

The movement began last week in the Paris region and spread rapidly nationwide among high school students, the final stage of secondary education before university.

In their protests, students blocked access to their schools and at times engaged in clashes with police that produced images of burning barricades and charred vehicles.

The demonstrators complain of excessively long schedules, inadequate classroom conditions (too hot in summer, for example), and excessive absences of teaching staff.

The government of center-right President Emmanuel Macron maintains that the movement's grievances are legitimate, but the violence is not.

Education Minister Edouard Geffray stated that "the high school movement is being hijacked by ultra-violent marginal groups."

According to him, the government expects about 400 of the country's 3,700 high schools to remain closed this Friday.

Many schools will hold classes remotely, especially in the southern city of Marseille, France's second most populous, where protests on Thursday caused the interruption of bus, tram, and coach services.

At least 65 staff members have been injured by the protests, including 40 high school principals, since the movement began, the minister told BFMTV.

"Parents must step forward and clearly tell their children not to go" to the demonstrations, he demanded.

"What matters now is making sure our children are no longer in the street, because they are in danger," he insisted.

Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin stated that he has asked prosecutors to hold parents responsible for the damage caused by their children during the demonstrations and to "pay for the repairs."

"Since the start of the movement, some 2,000 people have been detained by police," of whom "90% were minors," he told RTL radio.