Operations at 375 high schools disrupted in France due to protests

The operation of 375 high schools across France has been fully or partially disrupted because of ongoing student demonstrations demanding that problems in the education sector be addressed.

This was reported by the radio station Franceinfo, citing data from the republic's Ministry of Education.

In particular, 224 high schools were completely closed as of Thursday morning. Another 151 were able to partially resume operations. It is noted that these figures are 30% lower than on Wednesday, and in total 94% of high schools across the country were able to open fully or partially in the morning.

The high school students' protests began at the end of September in the capital region of Île-de-France and quickly escalated into unrest, spreading throughout France. In some cities, serious clashes are taking place between protesters and police. For example, in the commune of Lens (Pas-de-Calais department in the north of the country), one of the demonstrators, according to preliminary data, had his hand torn off. Since the start of the protests, gendarmes and police have carried out more than 6,600 detentions, and in 90% of cases those detained were minors.