Thousands of students in Italy on Wednesday gathered in streets and squares around the country to protest against the conservative government's planned cuts to the education budget, DPA reported.
The protests were set to culminate in a march in Rome where - in similar demonstrations last week - clashes broke out between leftists and security forces that left dozens injured and caused several million euros (dollars) in damage.
To avoid a repeat of the disturbances, authorities in the capital city have cordoned off an area around parliament's upper house Senate which on Wednesday was set to give final approval to the government's proposals.
The reforms include cutting funds to faculties and courses which the government says attract only a few students and drain resources from other more vital areas of study.
Critics , including the centre-left opposition, say they will make less funds available for research projects and other investments universities have to make to guarantee high standards of education.
While the government enjoys a comfortable majority in the Senate, the final approval of the proposals could be delayed by a blunder during voting on on several amendments tabled by the opposition on Tuesday.
Acting Senate speaker Rosy Mauro - who is from the Northern League party, the junior partner in Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi's coalition - erroneously announced that some of the amendments had been approved when in fact according to the vote tally they had been rejected.
The government has said it intends to hold a new Senate reading on the amendments on Wednesday - a move aimed at avoiding that the bill returns for another reading in the lower house Chamber of Deputies where it had already been approved earlier this month.
According to Italian law, any amendments made to legislation in one house of parliament must be approved by the other before it can become law.
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