Chilean students resume protests demanding education reform

Tens of thousands of students and their supporters marched through the Chilean capital on Thursday as part of renewed protests in demand of affordable and quality public education. The protests, which local media said drew some 70,000 people, came as the Chilean legislature held hearings on the South American country's budget. At some point in Santiago, an alleged group of radical students with their faces covered threw objects at police, who responded with water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters. According to police sources, about 100 people were arrested in the turmoil, including about 60 minors. "We are demonstrating because we believe that so far there has been no real discussion on public education," said Noam Titelman, the student federation leader of Chile's Catholic University. "We call on the politicians and candidates in the next municipal elections to participate in the discussion on public education, if they want to garner the youth's attention," Titelman added. Chilean students began protesting in 2011 to ask for education reform, including having the Education Ministry take over the supervision of public schools, which are currently under the control of city governments. Meanwhile, local media reported that the students also planned to hold protests on Oct. 11 and Oct. 16 to demand a larger education budget for 2013.