French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has described the raging protests sweeping through France as the most violent demonstrations the country has seen in decades.

Ongoing protests amounted to “the heaviest toll in decades paid by the school system”, Mr Lecornu told the French Parliament on Tuesday, lamenting at least 215 teenagers, 85 school staff and over 700 police injured since the protests broke out.

“Ultra-violence has arrived at the doorstep of high schools. It must be condemned unconditionally. In a functioning democracy, we cannot allow any room for tolerance of violence,” Mr Lecornu said. “Burning down a high school does not improve the state of high school buildings.”

According to France’s interior ministry,  at least 6,100 people had been arrested since the protests began roughly two weeks ago.

The nationwide protests, championed by students demanding education reforms, have spread to 40 cities in France.

The protests took a violent turn on Tuesday as police cracked down on protesters with tear gas.

Thousands of students and activists hit the streets of Nantes, Marseille, and Lyon on Tuesday with placards and banners bearing inscriptions like ‘They don’t really care about us’ and ‘Survive or study’.

Similarly, thousands of students marched across Lyon, Rennes and Strasbourg, lighting and burning fires despite police firing tear gas to disperse them.