Here’s why France is bracing for another tense Saturday of protests

Security plans for Saturday

With Halloween falling on Saturday, demonstrators may wear masks and costumes. Authorities are preparing a large security response as protests continue across the country, where clashes between demonstrators and police have kept tensions high.

Last Saturday’s large demonstrations avoided the disorder seen the previous week, in part because of a heavy police presence. In Paris, officials again moved the march route to the city’s eastern edge, prompting organizers to object and pursue unsuccessful legal challenges.

Officials said they were more concerned about trouble after nightfall than during the day. Mr. Nuñez said some online messages urged “revolution” and “insurrection”; the authorities will ban those gatherings and arrest people who defy the ban.

Students remain dissatisfied

Students are due back at school Monday after a two-week break, but the government’s initial response has not eased their concerns. The Education Ministry agreed to limit class sizes in some cases, provide low-interest loans to rebuild school buildings and gradually phase out an unpopular online college admissions platform.

The protests began last month with a small number of student demonstrations at high schools in suburban Paris. Students elsewhere around Paris soon joined, citing deteriorating school facilities, crowded classrooms and problems with the higher-education admissions system.

Protests spread nationwide

By Sept. 29, organizers said demonstrations had reached about 400 schools. Students blocked some entrances with objects including e-bikes; at other schools, protesters threw projectiles and set fire to trash cans. By the end of September, nearly 80 people had been injured and more than 440 detained, many of them minors.

The number of schools involved had doubled within days. The Interior Ministry said that by Oct. 2 protests had spread to more than 1,000 schools, including 220 blockaded sites, while university students also joined. Nearly 400 police officers and more than 230 school employees and students had been injured by then, and arrests had reached 3,000.

In October, labor unions, parents and other activists joined as separate grievances merged into a broader movement. The authorities said arrests later totaled 6,000. A judges’ and prosecutors’ union and a human rights group accused police of disproportionate force, including against children as young as 14.

Violence and wider concerns

Most protesters were peaceful, but unrest included a fire in Lyon and police use of tear gas, including in Paris. Authorities said rioters vandalized about 1,500 shops. In Paris, more than 100,000 people marched peacefully, while a few hundred rioters clashed with officers; police said cars were burned and storefronts smashed.

Officials have increasingly focused on social media’s role in drawing people to protests and encouraging violence. Speculation that the government might temporarily suspend several popular platforms was denied by President Emmanuel Macron.

The government has blamed far-left activists for much of the disorder, while officials have also confirmed that groups of young men linked to the far right entered demonstrations. They said those groups claim to protect shop owners but often clash with far-left groups.