Italian students march against reforms
Source: Agencies |
December 23, 2010, Thursday
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THOUSANDS of Italian students marched yesterday in protest against a new university reform law as police blocked off large parts of central Rome to stop a repeat of violent clashes at a similar march a week ago.
Last week's demonstration saw cars torched, shop windows smashed and dozens injured in running street battles between protesters and riot police after the initially peaceful march descended into some of the worst violence seen in Rome for years.
No trouble was reported yesterday in Rome, but there were clashes in Palermo and reports of other incidents in Naples, Milan and Turin.
The law, which the government says will strengthen Italy's crumbling university system, but which critics say will merely cut funding without solving real problems, was due for Senate approval yesterday, though a vote may be delayed until today.
In Rome, the march avoided the so-called "Red Zone" created by police blockades, instead occupying part of the A24 highway that runs east to the city of L'Aquila, whose residents have long complained bitterly of broken government promises to clear up the damage from last year's earthquake.
"You all alone in the Red Zone, us free in the city," read one mocking banner, addressed to the government ministries and parliament buildings in the historic center.
With an official youth unemployment rate of around 25 percent overall and as high as 35 percent in the poorer south, the battle over university reform has crystallized discontent over the future of Italy's young people.
"We will continue mobilizing," Rome student Claudio Rizzo said.
"It's not only a mobilization against university reforms, but of a generation that is making itself heard again over the politics of the country," he said.
Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini, who has piloted the new law through parliament, said the measures were urgently needed to equip Italian students for employment.
"It is essential to restore dignity and usability to Italian university degrees," she said in an open letter to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Critics, many of whom also support the principle of reforming the universities, say the system has been starved of funds and further cuts will endanger Italy's research capacity.
"We are asking for this bill to be blocked and for the public education system to be refinanced," the Student Network, an umbrella group, said.
Last week's demonstration saw cars torched, shop windows smashed and dozens injured in running street battles between protesters and riot police after the initially peaceful march descended into some of the worst violence seen in Rome for years.
No trouble was reported yesterday in Rome, but there were clashes in Palermo and reports of other incidents in Naples, Milan and Turin.
The law, which the government says will strengthen Italy's crumbling university system, but which critics say will merely cut funding without solving real problems, was due for Senate approval yesterday, though a vote may be delayed until today.
In Rome, the march avoided the so-called "Red Zone" created by police blockades, instead occupying part of the A24 highway that runs east to the city of L'Aquila, whose residents have long complained bitterly of broken government promises to clear up the damage from last year's earthquake.
"You all alone in the Red Zone, us free in the city," read one mocking banner, addressed to the government ministries and parliament buildings in the historic center.
With an official youth unemployment rate of around 25 percent overall and as high as 35 percent in the poorer south, the battle over university reform has crystallized discontent over the future of Italy's young people.
"We will continue mobilizing," Rome student Claudio Rizzo said.
"It's not only a mobilization against university reforms, but of a generation that is making itself heard again over the politics of the country," he said.
Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini, who has piloted the new law through parliament, said the measures were urgently needed to equip Italian students for employment.
"It is essential to restore dignity and usability to Italian university degrees," she said in an open letter to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
Critics, many of whom also support the principle of reforming the universities, say the system has been starved of funds and further cuts will endanger Italy's research capacity.
"We are asking for this bill to be blocked and for the public education system to be refinanced," the Student Network, an umbrella group, said.
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