ROME, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Students across Italy protested Friday against government cutbacks in funding for education, authorities said.
The Italian news agency ANSA reported 90 protests in cities including Rome, Milan, Genoa and Palermo.
In Genoa, thousands of protesters carried signs saying, "Stand up for your rights."
"School is not a privilege but a right," protester Pippo Rossetti said.
In Milan, students threw paint and eggs and at the offices of Moody's and tried to storm the ratings agency, which has downgraded Italy's credit rating and the ratings of 30 local Italian administrations and some of the country's biggest companies.
In a statement, a union representing the students said, "We have taken to the streets to underscore our opposition to a policy of continual cuts to education."
The union said 40 percent of schools lack a building safety certificate and "47 percent of young people have temporary jobs and 29 percent of young people are unemployed."
In Rome, students protesting outside the ministry of education threw paint-filled balloons at police blocking streets surrounding the building. In Palermo, students stormed city administration offices and displayed a banner reading, "You sail on yachts with our money while our schools are falling apart."
