Italian students protest reforms

(ANSA) - Rome, October 9 - Thousands of Italian students held demonstrations in cities across the country Friday as part of a nationwide mobilization to protest Premier Matteo Renzi's so-called Good School reform and in defence of public education.
    One of the recurring themes in the protests concerned revisions to the way that family income is calculated, which students say will reduce access to scholarships and housing.
    In Rome, students from three different groups - Knowledge Network, Student Union, and Link-University Coordination - gathered overnight in front of the Education Ministry to launch Friday's demonstrations.
    A spokesman for the groups said they were there "to announce a week of mobilization starting today until October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, to launch a battle attack for fully free education, a dignified income and training, and a true reversal of policies of precariousness".
    In front of Montecitorio, seat of the Lower House in Rome, a group of students led by Riccardo Laterza of Knowledge Network were protesting, among other things, "against the unfortunate situation that has excluded thousands of students from scholarships because of family income reform".
    Up north in Turin, where three separate marches took place, some student protesters occupied an abandoned gasworks slated to be torn down to build student housing.
    Those students said they were protesting against the housing's construction being awarded to private companies.
    In Milan, over a thousand students and leftwing social centre militants took to the streets against the school reforms.
    There, some protesters occupied the front stairs and facade of the Unicredit Bank building in Piazza Cordusio, while others threw smoke bombs and climbed onto the equestrian monument in Largo Cairoli.
    Down south, in Bari, local organisers said two thousand students came out in marches towards the headquarters of the Puglia regional government.
    Arianna Petrosino of Puglia's Student Union chapter said 7,000 students in Puglia were excluded from scholarships due to the income calculation reforms.
    In Palermo, about a thousand students marched downtown to reach Palazzo d'Orleans, seat of the Sicilian regional government.
    In Sicily, protests also took place in Trapani, Catanissetta, Vittoria and Siracusa.
    In Naples, local sources reported that firecrackers were set off in the two marches taking place downtown.