Mass school protests begin in France after days of clashes

School students have begun blocking schools as a nationwide day of protest gets under way

Mass protests by high school and university students demanding greater investment in French schools are under way, with a coalition of some of the largest unions joining them.

Students have been blockading hundreds of schools with 215 young people and 715 police officer hurt over the last week and more than 6,000 people arrested.

The incident happened in the northern city of Lens after mixed reports he either picked up a stun grenade fired by riot police or had it fired near him.

However, Geffray added there was "extreme violence within these movements".

Vice President of the student union organisation Les Lycéens Louis Letoublon responded on France Info, saying Geffray "has listened, he must now take action".

France's prime minister said on Monday the government had announced measures to address student demands, but the Union Syndicale Lycéenne (USL), a major organiser of the protests, said the government had offered "nothing concrete".

The radical-left La France Insoumise (LFI) party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon described the protests as the "most powerful high school and university student youth movement" since 1968 - a year of major unrest, which saw millions of workers go on strike.

The protests were started by high school students, who were later joined by university students.

More than 500 schools were partially or totally closed by protests on Monday, the French education minister said

Masked protesters took to the streets near Lycée Berthelot in Aubervilliers

On Sunday, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a series of measures to "address the difficulties faced by secondary school students and education staff", promising "visible changes" in schools.