Student protests in France: 400–500 schools fully or partially closed Monday

Up to 500 secondary schools in France are expected to be fully or partially closed on Monday as a new day of mobilisation by pupils gets under way, following several days of protests marked by clashes with police, damage to schools and street violence.

The demonstrations, which have spread across several major cities, have seen rubbish bins and other objects set on fire, projectiles thrown at security forces and damage to school buildings and street furniture.

The Ministry of Education said on Sunday that classes would be "totally or partially" suspended in 400 to 500 secondary schools where security conditions "are not met".

There were "between 400 and 500 suspended classes" on Friday, and "there will probably be just as many on Monday, but with a gradual, partial resumption of classes", Education Minister Édouard Geffray said in interviews with TV channel France 2 and radio station France Inter.

Twenty-four of the 735 schools affected by the protests have been "set on fire or ransacked", the minister said. Geffray also said that "78 staff members" from the Ministry of Education have been injured "since the start of the events".

The Interior Ministry said that the unrest has led to nearly 5,000 arrests since Monday.