PARIS, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Some 256,000 people took to the streets across France on Tuesday, including 56,000 in Paris, in solidarity with high school students who have been blocking their schools since mid-September to demand more funding for education, according to a tally by the French Ministry of the Interior.
High school and university student organizations estimate that the marches across the country drew 450,000 people, including 100,000 in the capital city.
Nationwide, 488 people were arrested on Tuesday amid violence on the fringes of the protests, according to the French Ministry of the Interior, bringing the total number of arrests since the start of the movement to 6,547.
A total of 891 high schools out of the country's approximately 3,700 were disrupted due to Tuesday's large-scale protest, the French Ministry of National Education announced.
Classes are suspended in high schools from Wednesday through Friday to allow for a "period of internal democracy" with students, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced on Tuesday.
"We cannot condemn violence without, at the same time, giving full space to debate within high schools," Lecornu said on the social media platform X.
The prime minister, along with the ministers of the interior and national education, are expected at the Elysee Palace Tuesday evening for a briefing on the situation, according to the French press, citing government sources. ■