Minister of Education: “To date, 24 schools have been burned or looted… 78 teachers and staff injured.”

As protests by high school students who are angry at the poor educational environment show no signs of calming down, the number of schools that are fully or partially closed is expected to reach up to 500 on the 5th (local time).

According to AFP, Education Minister Edouard Jeffre announced on the 4th that classes at about 400 to 500 high schools would be fully or partially suspended on the 5th after the weekend because safety requirements were not met.

Minister Jeffre said this and explained that since the protests began, 24 schools have been burned or looted and 78 school staff have been injured.

In France, protests by high school students demanding to improve the poor educational environment, including chronic teacher shortages, overcrowded classes, and outdated school facilities, and to expand educational personnel and budget, are shaking the country.

The first protest began at a high school in Paris on the 17th of last month, but it spread throughout the country last week, and clashes between protesters and police are getting worse.

AFP reported that the number of people arrested during protests has reached 5,000, and 85% of them were minors.

There is also criticism that the police and security personnel used excessive force, such as tear gas and batons, and arrested students indiscriminately in the process of suppressing the protests.

Regarding this, Minister Jeffre said, "In particular, far-left activists are infiltrating protests, hijacking student movements, and using extreme violence, causing danger to both faculty and students. I have never seen anything like this before."

Also on this day, a 16-year-old student was detained on suspicion of assaulting a teacher in the southern city of La Ciotat. AFP reported that the 59-year-old teacher who was attacked was doused with gasoline and assaulted near the high school student protest site on the 2nd.