Chile education march ends in violence

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

STORY: Demonstrators clashed with police in downtown Santiago on Wednesday where tens of thousands of Chilean university and high school students marched through the streets.

Student groups said as many as 100,000 students, teachers and parents participated in the demonstration which rejected recent reforms put forward by the government and called instead for complete education reform.

This was the second education demonstration of the year organized by the Chilean Student Confederation. It came five days before center-right President Sebastian Pinera's speech in Congress regarding education reform.

Protesters threw rocks, bottles and other objects at riot police, who responded with water cannon and tear gas. According to reports, police arrested 15 protesters and one woman suffered an injury to the head after being hit by a pole hit her.

Students held seven months of demonstrations in 2011 protesting the profit-driven state of higher education in Chile. The education system in Chile is considered one of the most expensive and unfair in the world, according to the OECD.