French Authorities Close Hundreds of Schools Due to Ongoing Protests

The closure of educational institutions was announced by French Minister of Education Édouard Geoffroy. According to him, since the start of the protests, 24 schools have been set on fire or looted, and 78 education system employees have been injured.

"This is something we have never seen before," said the minister.

The protests began on September 17 in one of the Parisian schools and later escalated into nationwide actions involving thousands of people. During clashes, police used tear gas and batons.

According to Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin, 735 out of 3700 French schools were affected by the unrest to some extent. The Minister of Education promised that classes would gradually resume once the situation stabilizes.

Geoffroy claims that radical activists have joined the protest movement: "There are activists — particularly from the far-left camp — who have infiltrated the high school student movement, effectively taken it over from the students themselves, and are resorting to extreme violence. It is obvious that this creates a danger for both our staff and students."

On Friday alone, police detained 1747 people. In total, over five thousand people have been detained since the start of the protests, about 85% of whom are minors.

In the city of La Ciotat in southern France, a 16-year-old teenager was detained, suspected of attacking a 59-year-old teacher. According to media reports, the educator was beaten and doused with gasoline.

In Belfort, a group of teenagers kicked a police officer who was lying on the ground. Two Bulgarian citizens, aged 15 and 17, were detained in connection with this case. One of them later filed a complaint himself, alleging attempted murder by a police officer.

Organizers called for demonstrations to continue on Tuesday, accusing the government of a lack of concrete steps.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu promised to improve the material resources of schools, the organization of the school day, and the university admissions platform.

The French branch of Amnesty International condemned "disproportionate police violence" and demanded that young people be allowed to freely express their dissatisfaction.

"Authorities must allow young people to exercise these rights without fear of being subjected to tear gas grenades or batons, or arbitrary police detention," stated the head of the organization, Anne Savinel-Barras.

Minister of Interior Laurent Nuñez rejected the accusations. According to him, the security forces "do not persecute young people," but rather protect those schoolchildren and students who wish to express their demands peacefully.

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