Students Invade Parliamentary Piazza

The Italian Chamber of Deputies’ decision to pass a controversial education bill was met by 50 thousand protesting students in Rome’s parliamentary piazza at Montecitorio. After weeks of strikes and sit-ins, students and researchers criticised government officials for “not taking into account requests from all components of the academic world, from students to university deans.” According to protestors, the Moratti Reform changes the face of university research in Italy by limiting contract possibilities for researchers, reducing government funding, and crippling university autonomy.  Politicians in opposition of the bill argue that the reform has created a system that favours the seniority over the academic merit of faculty.