Students descend on Madrid

MADRID, Spain -- Thousands of students have taken to the streets in the largest demonstration yet against the government plans to reform Spain's university system.

Public university students, who highlight disparities between public and private education, came from around Spain in hundreds of buses to the capital, Madrid on Saturday.

Police, who kept a low-key presence during the demonstration, said some 50,000 had joined the march, although union officials said the figure was 500,000.

Their ranks were swelled by teachers, trade union leaders, senior opposition politicians and local celebrities.

Similar protests in Madrid last month became running battles between students and police in riot gear.

Saturday's was peaceful but noisy as protestors marched to the Plaza de Espana for a rally including political speeches and music.

The demonstrators oppose a new law that shifts responsibility for certain examinations away from the state to a new agency.

Opponents say the change will lower standards and does not address the financial problems of the public university system.

The measure has already been passed by Spain's parliament.

The Senate, where the ruling conservative Partido Popular (PP) government has a majority, is widely expected to be approved in the Senate later this month.

"We have come here to express our opposition to the law and against a government that won't talk to the students," said Diego Escusol, a student from Zaragoza.

Since another university law came into force in 1983 numerous private universities have cropped up in Spain.

Many academics and students in the state universities have criticised them as not properly regulated.

Education Minister Pilar del Castillo told local media the new law made the system more transparent and dynamic and raised the quality of university teaching.

She pointed out there was no proposal to increase fees, lower public scholarships or reduce student representation.