French authorities have detained over 6,900 people since the student protests began, most of them minors

More than 6,900 people have been detained in France since the student protests began, approximately two weeks ago. According to the figures presented Friday by the French Ministry of Justice, 86% of those detained are minors, and the authorities have initiated legal proceedings against 2,376 people.

Of those detained, 1,547 were brought before a judge, including 1,239 minors. In total, 21 people are in pretrial detention, six of whom are minors.

The data, compiled Thursday evening, do not include the detentions carried out after Thursday evening’s demonstration was dispersed, when clashes took place between violent groups and law enforcement, nor the people detained Friday morning during the continuation of blockades at educational institutions.

According to the Ministry of Education, 141 of France’s approximately 3,700 educational institutions were still closed Friday, compared with 157 the previous day.

The government is attempting to respond to the demands of students and unions by hiring approximately 3,000 teachers to reduce the shortage of teaching staff. Education Minister Edouard Geffray announced that teachers are already being contacted to begin work as early as the following week.

The government platform for student complaints has received approximately 66,000 complaints.