France closed up to 500 high schools on Monday as violent student protests over poor education conditions continued, Education Minister Édouard Geffray said.
Lessons were totally or partly suspended in 400 to 500 schools because security conditions were not met, Geffray stated on Sunday. He added that 24 schools had been burned or ransacked since the movement began, and 78 education staff members had been injured .
The protests, which started at a Paris school on Sept. 17, expanded into a nationwide movement last week. Students have cited teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms, dilapidated facilities, and inadequate cooling as key grievances .
Geffray attributed some of the violence to far-left activists infiltrating the student movement, stating they had "hijacked it from the students themselves" . Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called for classes to resume wherever security allowed and scheduled a meeting with regional leaders on Tuesday to address school renovations .
Organizers have called for further protests on Tuesday, saying the government has yet to propose concrete measures to address their demands . In the Île-de-France region, more than a third of the 468 schools were shut on Monday, according to regional president Valérie Pécresse .
