Students continue to protest in France as hundreds of schools close

Hundreds of high schools in France are closed as student protests continue against rundown schools and teacher shortages. Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon told CNews television on Monday that the priority was to “restore order”. Earlier, National Education Minister Edouard Geffray said on Sunday evening, of the 3,700 schools, 400 to 500 were likely to be closed fully or partially on Monday. Geffray said 24 schools had been burned or ransacked, while 78 teaching staff had been injured since the beginning of the protests. Nationwide demonstrations erupted at the end of last month at a high school in a Parisian suburb over teacher shortages, before spreading nationwide.