Up to 500 schools across France will be totally or partly closed on Monday (October 5, 2026) because of a wave of student protests that has shaken the country, the Education Minister said.
asserted
Minister → close → country
Lessons will be "totally or partly suspended" in some "400-500" high schools as the security conditions "have not been fulfilled", said Education Minister Edouard Geffray on Sunday (October 4, 2026), adding that 24 schools had been "burned or ransacked" since the start of the movement.
asserted
schools → suspend → movement
He described the closures as chiefly a security precaution ahead of large-scale protests that the leaders of the movement have called for Tuesday (October 6, 2026).
asserted
leaders → describe → Tuesday
The teenagers at French high schools, known as lycees, say that their studies are being ruined by high teacher absence rates, overlong school days and dilapidated facilities, as well as other grievances.
asserted
studies → know → rates
mr. Geffray said the number of schools affected on Monday would be comparable to the figure from Friday but vowed there would be a "partial, progressive return to lessons".
asserted
number → say → lessons
More than a third of the 468 schools in the wider Ile-de-France region surrounding the capital will be shut on Monday as a result of the protests, Valerie Pecresse, the right-wing president of the region, told broadcaster Franceinfo.
asserted
Pecresse → surround → Franceinfo
The movement began at a Paris school on September 17 but grew last week into nationwide protests marked in places by outbursts of violence involving teenagers and security forces, which have used tear gas and truncheons against the students.
"There are activists — particularly from the far-left — who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence," Mr. Geffray claimed.
asserted
Geffray → begin → violence
"Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students," he said, adding that 78 education staff members had been wounded — "something we have never seen before".
asserted
we → pose → something
"They were deliberately targeted because they were employees of the national education system," Mr. Geffray said.
asserted
Geffray → target → system
Organisers have called for the protests to continue on Tuesday, citing a lack of "concrete measures" from the government.
asserted
protests → call → government
In a bid to address the protesters' concerns, Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu set out a timetable on Sunday urging local authorities to prioritise filling gaps left by long-term absences and unfilled posts.
He also called a meeting for Tuesday (October 6, 2026) with regional presidents to discuss overhauling the country's often-dilapidated school buildings.
asserted
He → address → buildings
Over 5,000 people, 85 percent of them minors, have been arrested since the start of the movement.
asserted
percent → arrest → movement
Critics have accused the police of using heavy-handed tactics against children.
asserted
Critics → accuse → children
A 16-year-old was detained on Sunday (October 4, 2026) over the assault of a teacher in the southern town of La Ciotat.
asserted
old → detain → Ciotat
The teacher, 59, was struck and doused with gasoline on the sidelines of a high school student protest on Friday (October 2, 2026).
asserted
teacher → strike → Friday
A video circulating on social media appears to show an individual dressed entirely in black with a masked face splashing liquid onto the teacher, who then clutches his face while a tree burns nearby.
asserted
tree → circulate → face
A group of youths were last week filmed beating and kicking a policeman on the ground in Belfort in eastern France in images that caused an outcry among officials.
asserted
that → film → officials
Two youths, Bulgarian nationals aged 15 and 17, have been arrested and investigated for suspected aggravated violence, the prosecutor said.
asserted
prosecutor → age → violence
One of the youths, whom the policeman had tried to arrest before being beaten, has now filed his own attempted murder complaint, his lawyer said.
asserted
lawyer → try → complaint
The France branch of Amnesty last week slammed "disproportionate police violence" in tackling the demonstrations and said students must be allowed to express their grievances.
"
asserted
students → slam → grievances
Authorities must allow young people to exercise these rights without fear of being hit by tear gas grenades or batons, or being arbitrarily taken into police custody," said Amnesty France president Anne Savinel-Barras.
asserted
Barras → allow → custody
But Interior Minister Laurent Nunez stated that security forces "are not cracking down on young people" but rather "protecting" school and university students wishing to "peacefully voice their demands".
asserted
forces → state → demands
The Aporia
