French student protests close hundreds of schools

Hundreds of French schools are closed as student protests continue, with Education Minister Edouard Geffray estimating 400 to 500 of the country's 3,700 schools will be fully or partially shut on Monday. The government says its priority is to restore order. The nationwide demonstrations began in late September over teacher shortages and rundown facilities, with 24 schools burned or ransacked and 78 teaching staff injured. Students have erected barricades, and clashes with police have occurred in Lille, Toulouse, and Paris, where a school was attacked by masked individuals. Since September 28, about 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested, and a teenager lost a hand after picking up a stun grenade. Property damage costs are estimated in the tens of millions of euros, and student unions have called for a national day of demonstration on Tuesday.