France's government has hit pause on high school. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said Tuesday that classes will be suspended for the rest of the week. He called it a "period of internal democracy" so students, teachers and principals can debate their complaints.

The protests began in September in the poorer suburbs of Paris and have spread nationwide, Reuters reported. Students want absent teachers replaced, longer lunch breaks, changes to the length of the school day and repairs to run-down buildings. Unions for farmers, energy workers and teachers joined Tuesday's marches, Al Jazeera reported.

Crowd estimates split widely. The Interior Ministry counted 256,000 marchers nationwide, including 56,000 in Paris, RFI reported. Student organizers said 450,000, with 100,000 in Paris. The education ministry said 891 of France's 3,700 high schools had lessons fully or partly suspended Tuesday.

Some protests turned violent. Police fired tear gas in Strasbourg, Lyon and Rennes as protesters lit fires and threw objects. Lecornu said at least 215 students and 715 police officers have been hurt since the protests began. On Monday, a 15-year-old in the northern city of Lens lost his hand after picking up a police grenade, the newspaper La Voix du Nord reported.

The Interior Ministry says 6,100 people have been arrested, most under 18, Al Jazeera reported. More than 1,800 will be prosecuted, including 1,483 minors.

"Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings," Lecornu told lawmakers. He rejected claims of "police violence," calling them "a lie," and accused the hard-left France Unbowed party of "sowing chaos."

He ordered ministers to answer students' demands by the end of October. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said he would respond by next week. An online student consultation runs until Oct. 23. Two student unions have called another day of action for Thursday.

Money is the problem. France is under pressure to cut a growing budget deficit. The yield on its 10-year bonds briefly topped 5% last week, a 24-year high, Reuters reported. The presidential election to replace Emmanuel Macron is about six months away, and Lecornu's government and Marine Le Pen's National Rally both accuse France Unbowed of stoking the protests, which the party denies.

U.S. President Donald Trump weighed in on social media, blaming immigration and Islam without evidence, Al Jazeera reported.

What we know: Classes are off this week, and more protests are planned Thursday.
What we don't: What the government will offer, and how it will pay.