French march against school plan

The march was peaceful apart from a few scuffles with police

At least 19,000 school students and teachers have demonstrated on the streets of Paris against a proposed reform of the French education system.

They marched against job cuts in secondary schools. The government plans to cut some 11,200 education jobs this year, including 8,500 teaching posts.

The protest, which began on Thursday afternoon, is the students' second this week and the fifth in two weeks.

Thursday's protest is thought to be the largest so far.

While police put the number of protesters at 19,000, organisers say there were between 30,000 and 40,000 people on the streets.

Education Minister Xavier Darcos, who was addressing the Senate, said the proposed reform was "not quantitative, but qualitative".

"We hear the students and they are right to be worried about their future, but it is a lie to make them believe that the school issue is a numbers game," he said.

"It is necessary to reform schools; it is not because there will be 100 more or 100 fewer that things will change. Students must not repeat union slogans, they mustn't hide behind popular movements, we must discuss reform, we need it and the reform is not quantitative, it is qualitative."

There have been smaller protests in other French cities, including Bordeaux, Toulouse, Lyon and Grenoble.