Arrest of More than 1,700 People Due to Student Protests in France

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French authorities arrested more than 1,700 people on Friday as part of the student protest movement, which has included the closure of high schools and violence in recent days, while organizers called for continued mobilization on Tuesday in the absence of "concrete measures."

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Friday evening that 1,747 people were arrested on the same day, bringing the total to more than 5,000 since Monday, in connection with the closure of high schools.

He noted that "735 institutions have been affected by the mobilization... and we have witnessed acts of violence near 158 institutions, where projectiles were thrown and law enforcement officers, teachers, journalists, and passersby were attacked."

The protests began on September 17 in the Paris area before quickly spreading across the country, where final-year high school students blocked their school entrances and clashed with police.

Students say that study hours are excessively long, and that conditions in schools are unsuitable, including high temperatures inside classrooms, as well as frequent staff absences.

The government says these complaints are legitimate, but it rejects acts of violence.

The protests have also gained a political dimension just over six months before the presidential elections, as the government accused the radical left party France Insoumise, whose leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon is running for president, of being behind the movement.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced, after meeting with the organizers of the protests on Friday, the launch of an "action plan" soon to "accelerate the replacement" of teachers, especially in the first and last years of high school.

He acknowledged that he "will not be in a position to make a decision regarding the start of the 2027 school year," which will follow the presidential elections. The USL student union called for "continuing the mobilization... and joining the third-term movement on Tuesday."

It is a day of major national demonstrations, according to Riyad Rani, the head of this student union.

A broad coalition of national education unions has called for participation, "including through strikes."