Authorities in France were forced to close as many as 500 high schools across the country as protests over education standards ran into a third week.

Oct. 5 (UPI) -- Authorities in France were forced to close as many as 500 high schools across the country as protests by thousands of students over the state of the education system extended into a third week.

Education Minister Édouard Geffray announced Sunday that the schools would not reopen after the weekend with classes at 400 to 500 partially or completely cancelled because of security that did not meet the levels required.

Accusing left wing extremists of exploiting the dispute, Geffray said 78 staff had been injured and 24 schools "burned or ransacked" since the protests, which he said were unprecedented, erupted Sept. 21 in low-income districts of Paris' southeastern suburbs.

"There are activists -- particularly from the far-left -- who have infiltrated the high school student movement, hijacked it from the students themselves, and engaged in extreme violence. Clearly, this poses a risk to both our staff and our students," he said. Geffray added that 78 staff members in education had been wounded, which he described as "something we have never seen before".

The Justice Ministry said the 735 of the country's 3,700 schools had been impacted "one way or another" by unrest over overcrowding, teacher shortages and dilapidated school buildings.

In a post on X, Geffray said the government was working to resolve the situation by addressing high school students' grievances in direct consultation with pupils' elected representatives, saying almost 350 delegates from 28 school councils had met in the past week with him personally attending one in Versailles and convening the National High School Life Council on Friday.

In a letter to ministers Sunday, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu vowed not to "yield an inch to violence| and to push through a so-called "casseur-payer" bill making those who cause damage to public property liable for the costs.

However, he also promised action on the allocation of massively oversubscribed university places, follow through on student's grievances and promised parliament would look at what needed to be done to improve the system over and above the $1.35 billion in additional funding in his government's 2027 budget bill currently before lawmakers.

Lecornu said he would present initial steps before the end of October together with a timetable for implementation and how they would be paid for, saying the debate "must lead to visible changes in high schools."