Student protests in France intensified on Tuesday as authorities detained 440 people, most of them minors, during demonstrations at high schools across the country. The protests began in Paris last week, with students blocking school entrances over overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and poor working conditions in the education system.

The protests affected at least 400 schools, according to the education ministry. Officials said at least 10 teachers, several students and 48 law enforcement personnel were injured during Tuesday’s demonstrations. Images and videos from the protests showed bins being set on fire and bus stops being damaged.

One 16-year-old student told AFP: “We're here to deliver a message. We're not here to smash everything up for no reason. We're here precisely to say that the education system is completely broken. There are 34 of us in each class, and it's just not feasible. The teachers are overworked.”

Education Minister Édouard Geffray said students have the right to protest but condemned reports of violence as “indefensible”. Writing on X, he said: “The right to demonstrate is a fundamental freedom that cannot serve as an excuse for such actions.

“To legitimise them or, in this context, to call for extending the blockades is to endanger our students as well as public employees. It is irresponsible.”

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez told BFMTV that 440 people are detained. “We don't have the final tally yet, but I'm told two thirds led to police custody,” he said. French media reported that protesters threw projectiles at police, who responded with batons and tear gas.

Ryad Rani, president of the Union Syndicale Lycéenne, accused the government of “repression” and alleged that police used excessive force. Several French politicians have also criticised the police response. Nuñez defended the action taken by officers, saying it had been “carried out in an extremely proportionate manner”.

The student movement started in the Île-de-France region around Paris. It expanded across the country as teenagers continued to blockade schools. On Monday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned against further escalation after 164 people were arrested. He referred to incidents involving fireworks, fires and violence near schools.

Lecornu wrote on X: “Fireworks, fires, violence near high schools: nothing justifies endangering students, staff, or police officers.”

Tuesday’s student protests took place alongside nationwide walkouts by teachers, hospital workers and civil servants. The unions were protesting low wages and poor working conditions. Nuñez said around 200,000 people took part in those demonstrations and said most of them passed without major incidents.