The French government has made its first sign of giving ground to teenage protesters, with a promise of 3,000 extra supply teachers in the coming days.
Education minister Edouard Geffray made the offer in a television interview on Thursday evening, at the end of another day of sometimes violent demonstrations by high-school students.
The government says 6,877 people have been arrested, 86% of whom are under the age of 18, since protests began centred around demands for more resources in secondary education.
In what unions have billed as Act Four of the three-week movement, some 71,000 people staged protests across the country on Thursday, with 24,000 gathering at the Bastille in Paris.
Police once again intervened with tear-gas to disperse groups who attacked them with paving stones and homemade fireworks. In Bordeaux, a high school was ransacked by protesters, and in Marseille a deputy-head was beaten up.
On Friday, some 140 lycées, out of 3,500 total, were totally or partially closed, representing a big drop on previous days. However, another day of action has been called for next Tuesday.
The offer contained no major promise of new investment on a scale likely to appease protesters. The government is wary of appearing to buy social peace because it knows France's precarious debt situation is being followed closely by international money markets.
Reaction from student leaders has been guarded to say the least. Nathanaël Combary, who represents the moderate Renouveau Lycéen union, said students were waiting to see how the promise was carried out in practice, noting that people want to see the money and more concrete results.
Meanwhile, Sabrine Kharbach of the Union Etudiante maintained that actions would continue until ten billion euros were placed on the table. Presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon praised the demonstrations on social media, while hard-right National Rally spokesman Laurent Jacobelli condemned the government concessions as a legitimisation of violence.
The movement represents the most serious student unrest in France in many years, unfolding against a backdrop of rising fuel prices, distress in the farming sector, and approaching presidential elections. The government is hoping that upcoming half-term holidays and worsening weather will help diminish the protests.