Hundreds detained as French school protests escalate

French authorities detained more than 600 individuals as high school protests intensified, with numerous police and other officials injured, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. The unrest, which began last week, saw students aged 15 to 18 protest outside schools, voicing concerns from school schedules to overheated classrooms during the current heatwave season.

Initially confined to the Ile-de-France region near Paris, the demonstrations have now spread across the country, causing widespread anger among the government.

On Wednesday alone, 625 people were arrested during school blockades, with Education Minister Edouard Geffray reporting that 119 students and staff members sustained injuries across 356 affected schools. Interior Minister Nunez described the situation as escalating, criticizing the targeting of law enforcement officers, throwing of objects, acts of violence, verbal abuse, attempted arson, and what he deemed urban violence.

Police officers and gendarmes were also wounded in the clashes, which affected a total of 356 schools.

President Emmanuel Macron, speaking from Madrid, lambasted left-leaning politicians for allegedly legitimizing the violence. He emphasized that vandalism would not be tolerated and that the government was defending students' rights, who are facing excessive schedules. Juan, a student from Montbello high school in Lille, expressed the students' frustration with their current timetable, working from 8am to 6pm.