ROME, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Tens of thousands of students marched in Rome Wednesday, protesting planned university reforms that include funding cuts to Italy's university system.
Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini has said the reforms would add more meritocracy to the system by rewarding universities demonstrating better results, and would train people for the job market, The New York Times reported.
"It is essential to restore dignity and usability to Italian university degrees," Gelmini said in a letter published in Corriere della Sera, Italy's leading daily.
The reforms would also change admissions procedures and raise the role the private sector plays in Italy's state universities, which are behind other educational institutions within the European Union in research and development, the Times said.
Many critics said the goal was good, but lacked proper funding.
"And without money, no reform can work, whether good or bad," an editorial in Turin's La Stampa said Wednesday.
The Senate was expected to vote on the reform package this week.
