Riot police confronted protesters across France as student demonstrations over conditions in education disrupted more than 700 schools.
High school pupils and other demonstrators took to the streets over teacher shortages, crowded classrooms and deteriorating buildings, with fires reported during the unrest. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said police arrested 1,747 people on Friday.
The movement began in Paris last week before reaching other parts of the country, including Montpellier, Nantes and Marseille.
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin said the unrest had “gone from high-school student demonstrations to a public order disturbance”.
He said 735 of France’s 3,700 schools had been affected “one way or another” by the violent demonstrations.
Speaking to TF1 television late on Friday, Nuñez announced the arrest figures and said: “We are sliding into riot and urban violence, and we are using all intermediate means to put an end to it.”
Education Minister Édouard Geffray, meanwhile, alleged that people outside the student community had taken control of the movement.
In an interview with BFMTV, he said teachers had reported that “the people in front of me were not my students”.
A 17-year-old was arrested earlier on Friday on suspicion of attempted homicide following an attack on a police officer during protests in Belfort, northeastern France.
BBC Verify authenticated two videos showing the assault on a man whom a minister subsequently identified as a police officer.
The graphic recordings show several young men pursuing the officer before he falls. He is then repeatedly punched and kicked in the head while on the ground.
The education ministry said at least 65 staff members had sustained injuries during the unrest.
In Pantin, a suburb of Paris, officers charged towards demonstrators and made arrests after coming under attack from thrown objects.
Police in Strasbourg used tear gas amid concerns that the confrontation could intensify, Reuters reported.
Demonstrators also set rubbish bins alight in Rennes and Paris.
“As far as we’re concerned, we’ve won – our school is closed this morning,” Lola, a 16-year-old protester, told the AFP news agency on Friday.
She argued that the police response had heightened students’ anger.
“It makes us even angrier – the police have no right to hit us or use tear gas on us,” she added.
Police released photographs of objects confiscated from demonstrators, among them petrol bombs, an axe and devices described as mortar fireworks.
The education ministry reported “Significant damage” to school premises, including gates, entrances and perimeter fences.
Regional authorities said damage at Nelson Mandela high school in Nantes exceeded €2 million (£1.7 million), after a fire destroyed the glass entrance and parts of the interior.
School blockades and demonstrations first emerged last week, then expanded to hundreds of institutions nationwide.
Students have complained about lengthy school days, excessive classroom heat and widespread staff absences.
The unrest presents a challenge for President Emmanuel Macron, with next year’s presidential election six months away.
Proposed spending cuts affecting education have further fuelled anger among young demonstrators.
Parents have also expressed concern that their children could be drawn into the violence.
Outside Claude Monet school in southern Paris, Anya, 53, was searching for her son.
“We banned him from coming. I hope he isn’t here, but he did leave the house,” she told AFP. “We’re afraid the situation might escalate.”
Darmanin said prosecutors had been instructed to seek parental liability for damage caused by children and require them to “pay for repairs”.
Several French unions have voiced support for the student movement.
SNEP-FSU, SNUEP-FSU and Solidaires have urged their members to back the protesters.
The Solidaires Trade Union Federation said in a statement: “Let’s not let them fire on our children.
“Secondary school pupils have the freedom of assembly, association and demonstration.”
