PARIS — Mass protests over decrepit conditions at France’s high schools descended into sporadic violence yesterday, leading to nearly 500 arrests and prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call an emergency meeting.

The protests started in late September with students blocking entrances to hundreds of high schools for 15- to 17-year-olds over complaints of dilapidated facilities and teacher shortages.

US President Donald Trump weighed in yesterday to blame the unrest in France on “mass migration” and Islam, as he pushed his global right-wing narrative ahead of tough midterm elections at home.

In France, parents, teachers and union workers joined the high school students’ movement in the capital Paris and other cities.

The interior ministry said 256,000 people protested nationwide, while union organisers put the figure at 450,000.

Macron was expected to meet top officials late yesterday, including Interior Minister Laurent Nunez and Education Minister Edouard Geffray, in response to the unrest, a government source said.

At least 488 people were arrested and 43 members of the security forces were wounded yesterday, the interior ministry announced.