France is closing 400 to 500 schools, partly or completely, for one day in the wake of student protests and clashes with police, the country’s Education Minister Édouard Geffray said on Sunday (4 October).
He said that because the security situation had not returned to normal, teaching at those schools would be “completely or partially suspended” on Monday (5 October).
The education minister added that 24 schools in the country have been set on fire or badly vandalised since the protests began.
Thousands of students have taken part in the protests, which began last week. The movement started over the quality of education and various problems in schools, and has spread beyond the capital Paris to other cities including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille.
Students and their supporters allege that many schools do not have enough teachers, that classrooms are overcrowded and that a number of school buildings are in a dilapidated state.
France’s Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Friday that 735 of the country’s 3,700 high schools had been affected in one way or another by the violent protests.
The education minister warned that the number of schools affected or closed on Monday could be close to Friday’s figure, but gave an assurance that teaching would return to normal gradually and in part.
Geffray alleged: “Some far-left activists have infiltrated the high school students’ movement. They have taken control of the students’ movement and become involved in extreme violence.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report