Mexican protesters clash with police during president speech

A group of teachers and education staff in Mexico has clashed with police during a protest against education reforms outside a venue where President Penya Nieto was delivering a speech.

The protesters, from the teachers’ union the National Syndicate of Education Workers (SNTE), hurled rocks at anti-riot police and burnt tires in the southwestern Mexican state of Oaxaca on Friday while President Nieto was addressing workers at the state-owned petroleum company Pemex.

The protesters had come out to voice their opposition to Nieto’s education reforms, which open the door to privatization.

The reforms would also give the government control over teachers, whose pay and tenure would be decided based on government evaluations.

The protesters also voiced frustration with a wide range of problems in the country, including the case of 43 apprentice teachers who went missing in in the Mexican state of Guerrero.

Nieto’s administration has been facing fierce opposition and protests following reports of government involvement in many scandals.

Most notably, police forces are accused of playing a role in the disappearance and presumed murder of the 43 missing students, which happened more than three months ago.