Hundreds of French high schools began a second week of closures on Monday as student protests over dilapidated schools, overcrowded classrooms and teacher shortages spread nationwide. Between 400 and 500 of the country’s 3,700 high schools are expected to remain completely or partially closed, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said.

The movement began in late September with a blockade of a high school in the Paris suburb of Creteil and has become the largest youth movement in France since 2018. Students are demanding urgent investment to repair crumbling buildings, recruit teachers and cut class sizes. The protests have turned violent in places: 24 schools have been burned or ransacked, 78 school staff including 40 headteachers have been injured, and around 5,000 people, mostly teenagers, have been arrested.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu urged ministers to cancel trips away from Paris to avoid straining police resources. Student unions have called for a nationwide day of demonstrations on Tuesday, and teachers’ unions have called a strike. The unrest comes as the government tries to pass a deficit-narrowing 2027 budget.