Teenage students built barricades from rubbish bins outside schools from Lille in the north to Marseille in the south, and from Strasbourg in the east to Nantes in the west.
In Paris, protesters held banners reading “We want to be heard, not teargassed” and “Our future is not optional”.
The demonstrations followed two weeks of protests that began in disadvantaged suburbs of Paris before spreading across the country. The government responded by deploying riot police, saying the movement had evolved into urban violence.
A 15-year-old teenager lost a hand and part of his lower arm during clashes with riot police in northern France on Monday. Local authorities said about 200 to 250 protesters had been throwing objects at police, but declined to comment on the exact circumstances of the injury.
The teenager was reportedly injured after picking up a police dispersal grenade.
Prime minister promises response
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu has ordered ministers to address the students’ main demands, including ensuring absent teachers are replaced and reviewing the length of the school day, which currently runs from 8am to 6pm in some cases.
The government will also examine the need for longer lunch breaks and repairs to ageing school buildings. Lecornu has asked ministers to submit their first proposals by the end of October.
Finding additional funding, however, is expected to be difficult.
The protests have added pressure on a government attempting to reduce a widening budget deficit, while concerns over France’s rising debt, weak economic growth and spending have pushed borrowing costs higher.
The yield on France’s 10-year bonds briefly rose above 5% last week, reaching its highest level in 24 years.
Higher French borrowing costs have also begun affecting the wider eurozone, while weakness in the euro has added to concerns among policymakers. Finance Minister Roland Lescure said on Tuesday that there was no need for the European Central Bank to intervene.
Thousands arrested
France’s Justice Ministry said 5,060 people had been arrested since the protests began, with 87% of those detained being minors.
More than 1,800 people are facing prosecution, including 1,483 minors, although the ministry did not specify the alleged offences. It said 790 cases had been dismissed.
At least 715 police officers and 215 teenagers have been injured in clashes, according to Lecornu’s office.
With six months remaining before an election to replace Macron, the government and the far-right National Rally have accused lawmakers and mayors from the hard-left France Unbowed party of encouraging the protests. The party has denied the accusation.
Bally Bagayoko, the France Unbowed mayor of Saint-Denis, a deprived Paris suburb, said he opposed violence but supported the protesting students.
“I stand by being on the side of my residents, and high school students are my residents,” he said.
