Paris ( CNN ) -- The mayor of a French town where students were held hostage for more than four hours Monday wants to reassure parents that `` schools in France are safe . '' `` We do not want to create an environment of terror in the classroom , '' Mayor Jean-Louis Fousseret said . `` We should n't focus on this issue . '' About 20 children , aged 4 to 6 , were in a classroom when the incident began ; five children and their teacher were held until the incident was resolved , Besancon police said . The hostage-taker is about 17 years old , according to the French Ministry of Education . He was armed with two swords and had `` demands , '' the ministry said , without specifying what they were . He has been arrested , the mayor said . `` We were dealing with someone who was suicidal and wanted us to give him a weapon , '' Fousseret said . `` There is no specific danger in Besancon . '' The father of one of the hostages said that he was `` very afraid '' for his child but that the students had confidence in their teacher . `` The teacher was very , very calm and confident . She helped them , '' Babacar Kebe told BFM . `` I have not asked them questions because they are very young , and I do n't want them to get upset . '' A security cordon was placed around the school , and police marksmen took positions outside , pictures from the scene showed . They did not enter the school during the incident , the mayor said . The incident started at 8:30 a.m. at the Charles Fourier school in the borough of Planoise and ended about four and a half hours later . France last had a high-profile school hostage incident 17 years ago . Six girls and their teacher were held hostage for two days in the suburbs of Paris in 1993 . A man calling himself `` the Human Bomb '' strapped explosives to his body and demanded about $ 18 million to release them . He was killed by police marksmen using guns with silencers , press reports said . CNN 's Nina Dos Santos , Isa Soares , Vicky Bennett and Alex Mohacs contributed to this report .
NEW : `` Schools in France are safe , '' Mayor Jean-Louis Fousseret says . NEW : ` The French government has announced that it will spend more than $900 million to improve security at schools across the country this year.' Five children and their teacher were held at a nursery school Monday . Suspect was armed with two swords , French Ministry of Education says .