France's high school students plan fresh protests

PARIS — France's high school students on Monday begin a new stage of their campaign for improved conditions, hoping to maintain the momentum with a fresh wave of demonstrations. The new protests, scheduled for Tuesday, could be a turning point in the movement, launched in mid-September, which the government hopes is already winding down. On Friday, the government noted a dramatic drop in the number of blockades and meetings outside the country's lycees, where students -- most between 15 and 18 -- complete their high school education. More than 96 percent were opening Friday, said the education ministry. The authorities are all the more keen to see the student protests end given that online activists have called for demonstrations next Saturday to protest the cost of living. For President Emmanuel Macron's administration, that brings back troubling memories of the grassroots Yellow Vest movement. Their protests, launched in 2018 over a planned fuel tax rise, saw massive demonstrations and clashes between police and protesters that shook the presidency during Macron's first term in office.