French high school students resumed blockades on Monday, with dozens of schools barricaded across the country. The education ministry said 41 high schools were blocked, about 1% of the nationwide total. Students' unions put the figure at 150.
Schoolchildren are demanding more replacement teachers and repairs to buildings. Police in Paris, Lille, Toulouse and Marseille attempted to remove wheelie bins used to block entrances, and made arrests.
Nathanaël Combary of the school students' union Renouveau Lycéen said the government's measures last week, which would cap some class sizes and review the university applications platform, were inadequate. He told BFMTV: "Democratically speaking it's a bit scandalous that we have to reach this type of situation to be heard but it's the only solution we have."
Education minister Édouard Geffray said the blockades were illegal. He warned that many students sitting the baccalauréat at the end of the year had missed four or five weeks of classes, and that the school year was "at risk" for them. "And that's something that we can't allow," he said.
In Montpellier, Socialist senator Hussein Bourgi accused the government of "misconduct" and "provocation" after video showed a 53-year-old school nurse being forced to the ground and handcuffed near a school barricade. The local prefect defended the arrest, saying the woman had insulted officers and resisted police.
Trade unions have called a nationwide strike for Thursday, with rail workers, teachers and private-sector employees planning to join demonstrations. University students' unions planned further faculty barricades on Tuesday.
Nicolas Bonnet of the headteachers' union SNPDEN-UNSA said it was time for schools to return to teaching, while acknowledging why pupils felt the government had not done enough. He called for more dialogue. Prime minister Sébastien Lecornu said he would meet school students' unions again next week.