PARIS: Education Minister Édouard Geffray said slightly more than 400 schools and other educational establishments in France would remain closed on Friday after student protests escalated into violence in some places.
Sébastien Lecornu, at a crisis meeting on Thursday, said intelligence agencies shared that the protest movement had been initiated by politicians
Speaking to France 2 late Thursday, Geffray outlined the disruption from the France school protests. Students are demanding action on teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and deteriorating buildings.
Protesters have set up major blockades, started fires and damaged property in cities including Lille, Lyon, Marseille, Strasbourg, Nantes, Dijon and Toulouse.
Demonstrations began in the Paris region before spreading nationwide. Officials said protesters started fires at at least two high schools on Thursday.
Meanwhile, teachers were splashed with petrol at another school in Marseille, southern France. A car was set alight in Strasbourg, while riot police clashed with youths in Toulouse.
Earlier in the week, Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said authorities had detained more than 1,000 people over two days. Most were minors.
However, Geffray acknowledged that some student demands concerning classroom capacity were legitimate, while condemning the violence.
The government also accused hard-left politicians of initiating the movement. A source close to Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told Reuters that intelligence agencies presented that assessment at Thursday’s crisis meeting.
France Unbowed lawmaker Louis Boyard denied the allegation in comments to French broadcasters. Separately, teachers’ unions condemned the violence but defended students’ grievances.
They accused the state of underfunding schools and criticised police interventions that they said had contributed to student injuries.
