Macron to meet high school students Friday, preempting PM amid cost-of-living crisis

French President Emmanuel Macron will meet with high school student organizations at the Élysée Palace on Friday, October 23, at 3 p.m., marking the first such meeting in a month of crisis, ahead of a new mobilization against the high cost of living. He is preempting his Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, who was scheduled to receive them next Monday. Student representatives plan to present demands including a reform of the Parcoursup university admissions platform and improvements to school buildings, according to Nathanaël Combary, president of Renouveau lycéen. However, Pierre Sourzat of Les Lycéens expressed skepticism, suggesting the meeting may lack follow-through, while a press point is planned near the Élysée afterward. The Prime Minister will still meet student and teacher organizations on Monday, alongside unions and local authorities, to continue dialogue. Student groups have sought this since October 7, proposing 10 measures costing 10 billion euros, including scholarship reform and 250,000 new university places. A government platform for student grievances closes Friday at midnight, and Saturday's "act II" protests will be restricted to union-organized events, with Lyon and Marseille banning gatherings and several cities imposing curfews.