As many as 450,000 people have taken part in nationwide protests across France, according to student and youth organizations, in the biggest day yet of a growing movement over deteriorating school conditions, as police fired tear gas and used batons and water cannon to disperse protesters in several cities.

The Interior Ministry put the turnout on Tuesday at more than 250,000, including 56,000 in Paris, compared with the organizers’ estimate of 450,000 nationwide and 100,000 in the capital.

The protests, which began in September in the deprived suburbs of Paris and have since spread across the country, have brought together high school students, teachers, parents and trade unionists demanding more funding for education, additional teachers, better-maintained school buildings and improved classroom conditions.

The scale of Tuesday’s demonstrations, coupled with increasingly violent clashes between protesters and police, has intensified pressure on Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s government, which has promised to address the students’ demands while defending the police response.

Lecornu told lawmakers that at least 215 teenagers and 85 school staff had been injured since the protests began, describing the toll as “the heaviest toll in decades” paid by France’s school system. His office said more than 700 police officers had also been injured.

Most of Tuesday’s demonstrations passed without serious incident, but some, including in Paris, ended in clashes with riot police. Nearly 500 people were arrested, according to Interior Ministry figures reported by French media, while the ministry said dozens of police officers were injured, according  to Press TV.

Trade unions and human rights groups have accused police of using excessive force against young protesters. Amnesty International called on French authorities to end what it described as “disproportionate police repression.”

MNA