education

Students protest state of school

Ivan Uribe/la prensa

mad:High school students protested in Panama City yesterday.1004213

Instituto Nacional students took to the streets yesterday to protest poor conditions at the high school.

The students, many wearing hoods that covered their faces, closed the Avenida de los Mártires at 10:30 a.m. by placing garbage cans across it. They also threw stones at passing vehicles.

About 30 minutes later, officers from the Unidad de Control de Multitudes de la Policía Nacional arrived on the scene to break up the demonstration. While there were several clashes between officers and students, there were no serious injuries or arrests. The incident was brought under control by noon.

The school was closed for the day, but classes are expected to resume as normal this morning. One of the students, Luis Carlos Flores, claimed that since classes began earlier this month, the school has lacked basic supplies.

"There is no water," the student said. "The teachers do not have desks. The air conditioners do not work."

School officials said that desks, chairs and other equipment began arriving at the school this week, and that the action by the students was uncalled for. They said the plan to identify the students involved in the protest and punish them.