Up to around 500 schools will be fully or partially closed on October 5 due to continuing student protests in France. The country’s education minister, Édouard Geffray, said this on 4 October.
According to him, classes in around 400-500 secondary schools will be “fully or partially suspended,” as security conditions are still not ensured. The minister noted that since the start of the protest movement, 24 schools have been “burned or looted.”
Students of secondary schools in France are protesting frequent absences of teachers, the excessively long duration of the school day, the deplorable condition of school buildings and other problems connected with the education system.
Geffray said that on October 5 the number of schools affected by the protests will be approximately the same as on Friday, October 2. He promised a “partial and gradual resumption” of classes.
The student protest movement began on September 17 in one of the schools in Paris, but during the previous week it turned into a nationwide protest. In some places the demonstrations have been accompanied by clashes between teenagers and law enforcement officers, during which police used tear gas and batons to disperse the children.
Since the start of the movement, more than 5,000 people have been arrested, 85 percent of whom are minors.
