Paris:Nearly 200 high schools across France were expected to remain closed due to continuing student blockades, as the government prepared to propose improvements to university admissions.

According to Anadolu Agency, Education Minister Edouard Geffray stated that 96% of high schools were operational with no disruptions in three-quarters of the country's departments, following the fifth round of nationwide protests. Several schools in Paris, including Voltaire, Helene-Boucher, and the Balzac school complex, remained blockaded. Balzac's administration suspended in-person classes, citing access difficulties and safety concerns.

Higher Education Minister Philippe Baptiste plans to submit proposals to enhance Parcoursup, France's university admissions platform, to the prime minister by the end of October. Geffray expressed openness to significant adjustments while questioning potential replacements if the platform were abolished. He noted that fewer than 20% of the 90,000 submissions to a government platform collecting student complaints concerned Parcoursup.

Geffray ruled out immediate changes to the baccalaureate, France's school-leaving examination, stating, "I'm not going to change the baccalaureate six months before a presidential election; we need to stop constantly reforming."

Student representatives are scheduled to meet with Geffray and Baptiste on Thursday afternoon, advocating for £10 billion ($11 billion) in investment. Pierre Sourzat, president of Les Lyceens!, indicated that students expect concrete measures after receiving "only crumbs." Although organizers have not called for a sixth round of protests on Thursday, the Union of High School Students encouraged demonstrators to maintain blockades. Additionally, Union President Ryad Rani and other student representatives called for participation in a "yellow vest" demonstration on Saturday.

Classes at Kleber High School in Strasbourg have resumed following recent clashes between students and police. French President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged the "legitimate anxieties" of young people amid the protests and condemned the violence during demonstrations. Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon reported that Macron believed these concerns had been "politically exploited and transformed into urban violence," denouncing "unacceptable scenes" of violence.

Macron has tasked the government with providing "clear and concrete answers" in the coming weeks, including measures to protect teachers and assess school buildings. The government has deployed 2,000 of the 3,000 promised substitute teachers, according to Bregeon. More than one-third of these substitute teachers have already been working with students.

Meanwhile, the justice minister released updated figures on cases linked to urban violence during the student movement. Since the blockades began, 7,950 people have been taken into police custody, including 6,773 minors and 1,177 adults. Of these, 2,735 have been prosecuted, 2,225 offered alternatives to prosecution, 1,263 cases dismissed, and 26 individuals placed in pretrial detention.