Student strike: charges and water cannons in Turin, firecrackers at the ministry in Rome

The day of strikes and national mobilization by students called across Italy - dubbed ‘No Meloni Day’ by the organizing groups - ended with incidents of tension in two cities. The protest arose to contest the new Schools decree, the shortage of affordable housing for out-of-town university students, the demand for funds for school building safety, and the introduction of compulsory sex and relationships education.

In Turin, several hundred masked demonstrators broke away from the student march proceeding through Piazza Castello. According to footage and reporting released by Corriere della Sera, the group threw stones and flares at police, who responded with dispersal charges and water cannons. A second report by the same newspaper, filmed in front of the city’s prefecture, describes stones, bottles, sticks and firecrackers being thrown at officers deployed to protect the building.

In Rome, meanwhile, students reached the Ministry of Education on Viale Trastevere, where they threw firecrackers at the building. According to La Repubblica, riot-equipped police and carabinieri units were already deployed at the ministry entrance, a sign that authorities had anticipated the possibility of tension along the march route.

The incidents involved a minority of participants compared with the overall mobilization, which student organizations had presented as a day of peaceful strike action on a national scale, centered on the four demands outlined: the Schools decree, housing, school building safety, and sex and relationships education. It remains to be seen whether the organizing groups will take a public stance on the disorder that occurred on the fringes of the Turin and Rome marches, and whether the incidents will lead to further developments regarding responsibility as determined by law enforcement.