France Shuts Hundreds of Schools as Student Protests Escalate Over Teacher Shortages and Crumbling Campuses

Hundreds of high schools across France remained closed on Monday as a wave of student protests over deteriorating school conditions and chronic teacher shortages continued to spread, prompting the government to declare that restoring order was its top priority.

Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon, speaking to the CNews television network on Monday, said the administration's immediate focus was on bringing the situation back under control. Her remarks came as education authorities scrambled to assess the scale of the disruption, which has touched schools in cities and suburbs alike.

National Education Minister Edouard Geffray said late on Sunday that between 400 and 500 of France's roughly 3,700 high schools were expected to be either fully or partially shut on Monday. The figure represents a significant share of the country's secondary education network and underlines how quickly the unrest has moved from a localized dispute into a nationwide movement.

Geffray also provided a stark accounting of the physical toll the protests have taken. He said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked since the demonstrations began, and that 78 teaching staff members had been injured. The numbers suggest that what started as a peaceful expression of grievances has, in some locations, descended into serious violence and property destruction.

The unrest first erupted at the end of last month at a high school in a Parisian suburb, where students protested against a lack of teachers. From that single flashpoint, the movement rapidly expanded across the country, drawing in students from a wide range of communities and backgrounds.

Reporting from a high school in the French capital, Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler described students constructing a barricade at the building's entrance using dustbins and fences. The improvised obstacle reflected the determination of protesters to prevent classes from proceeding and to draw attention to their cause.

Butler said the students she spoke with made clear they wanted the government to hear their demands. Many expressed frustration over persistent teacher shortages, noting that subjects such as mathematics and English frequently go without instructors. For these students, the absence of qualified teachers is not an abstract policy failure but a daily reality that undermines their education.

The protesters also framed their action as an expression of solidarity with peers in less affluent parts of France and in the country's overseas territories, where facilities are often less adequate. Their message, Butler reported, was that all young people should enjoy an equal right to education regardless of where they live or their family's circumstances.

Television footage from the French news channel BFMTV captured the volatility of the situation in several regions. Images showed police and students clashing in Lille in the north, tear gas being deployed in Toulouse in the southwest, and a fire being set as people attempted to break into a school in central Paris.

One of the most dramatic episodes occurred at the Lycee Vauquelin in Paris's 13th district. Carole Zerbib, the head of the school, said a "very determined" group wearing hoods and masks attacked the premises. She described the assault as "very violent" and said it unfolded "very quickly," lasting between 15 and 20 minutes.

Police and firefighters managed to extinguish the fire promptly, and the school was evacuated, with classes suspended as a result. The attack on the Lycee Vauquelin illustrates how the protest movement has, in some instances, been accompanied by targeted vandalism that has forced the closure of individual institutions.

The cumulative human cost of the unrest is considerable. Since September 28, approximately 5,000 people, most of them teenagers, have been arrested across France, and dozens have been injured. The scale of the arrests points to a heavy security response and raises questions about how the authorities are handling a movement driven largely by young people.

The injuries have not been confined to protesters or police. Teachers and members of the public have also been attacked, according to the available accounts. In one particularly alarming incident reported by the French newspaper La Voix du Nord on Monday, a teenager lost a hand after picking up a police stun grenade, a reminder of the dangers posed by unexploded crowd-control devices.

Beyond the human toll, the financial damage is mounting. Estimates of property damage have reached into the tens of millions of euros, a figure that encompasses burned buildings, ransacked classrooms, and other destruction. The costs will ultimately fall on taxpayers and will further strain an education system already under pressure.

Student unions have called for a national day of demonstration on Tuesday, signaling that the movement has no intention of fading quietly. A coordinated nationwide protest would mark another escalation and could bring further disruption to schools and public spaces across the country.

For the French government, the challenge is twofold. It must address the underlying grievances, including teacher shortages and inadequate facilities, that sparked the protests in the first place. At the same time, it must contend with the violence and vandalism that have accompanied some demonstrations, which risk eroding public sympathy for the students' cause.

The coming days will be critical in determining whether the protests subside or intensify. With a national demonstration planned and the government prioritizing order, the tension between students demanding better conditions and authorities seeking to restore calm appears set to continue.