Updated on
Summary Tens of thousands of public school teachers and students staged protest against cuts in education.
Tens of thousands took to the street of Madrid to protest against what they say is an attempt by the local centre-right government to use a debt crisis to strangle public schools and benefit private ones.Madrids regional government run by the Peoples Party that is expected to win general elections in November had asked public high school teachers to take on two extra classroom hours per week in a bid to save 80 million euros on extra staff.Clad in green t-shirts, state school teachers were joined by students banging on pans and holding banners demanding investment in public education. The demonstrators marched to Sol square as they chanted slogans against austerity measures in education.Head of teachers union ANPE in Madrid Francisco Melcon said the cuts would damage quality of education.Of course with the cuts undertaken the last year and with the instructions at the start of this academic year all of this damages the quality of public education and that of course affects overall quality of education that pupils receive at public institutions, said Melcon.
