Lessons were suspended at hundreds of French high schools on Monday, as part of a wave of student protest over learning conditions that have rocked the European nation.
Students trickled into some schools despite ongoing protests outside their gates, ahead of a day of larger demonstrations expected on Tuesday.
The government has sought to address the grievances, while accusing hard-left activists of having hijacked the protest movement.
Up to 500 out of France’s 3,700 high schools, known as lycees, were expected to be partially or totally closed on Monday, Education Minister Edouard Geffray said late Sunday.
A third of the 468 lycees for teenagers aged 15 to 17 were to be closed in the Paris region, authorities said.
In the capital’s central third district on Monday morning, dozens of teenage students chanted in protest, as cars honked their horns in support while driving past, while others made their way into class.
“No means, no silence,” read one cardboard sign outside the Turgot high school.
“We’re missing our lessons to give you one,” read another.
In the western city of Rennes, more than 20 pupils gathered outside the Montaigne lycee, one clutching a sign that read “Not enough teachers”, but staff allowed other students into their classrooms.
In the northern city of Lille, masked protesters destroyed bus shelters or set fire to dustbins, as police fired teargas towards several hundred demonstrators.
The movement started on September 17 at a high school in the Paris suburb of Creteil, in support of teachers striking over a lack of staff and resources.
It gained momentum and spread across France, at times spiralling into vandalism, including the destruction of bus shelters, the burning of school entrances and clashes between protesters and security forces.
