More than 1,700 people were arrested due to student protests in France

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The French authorities arrested more than 1,700 people yesterday, Friday, as part of the student protest movement that included the closure of secondary schools and acts of violence in recent days, while organizers called for continued mobilization on Tuesday in the absence of “concrete measures.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said on Friday evening that 1,747 people had been arrested on the same day, bringing the number to more than 5,000 people since Monday, due to the closure of secondary schools.

He pointed out that "there were 735 institutions affected by the mobilization... and we witnessed acts of violence near 158 institutions, where projectiles were thrown and law enforcement forces, teachers, journalists, and passers-by were attacked."

The protests began on September 17 in the Paris region before quickly spreading across the country, as students in the final years of secondary school closed the entrances to their schools and clashed with the police.

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

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

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

Meanwhile, Education Minister Edward Jeffrey, after meeting with organizers of the movements on Friday, announced the launch of an “action plan” soon to “accelerate the replacement” of teachers, especially in the first and last years of secondary school.

He acknowledged that he "will not be in a position to make a decision about the beginning of the 2027 academic year," which will follow the presidential elections. The USL, the union federation of secondary school students, responded with a call to “continue mobilization... and join the third semester movement on Tuesday.”

It is a day of major national demonstrations, according to Riad Rani, president of this student union.

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