Student demo shuts Sorbonne

Anti-government student protestors forced the Sorbonne university in Paris to close today after clashes with others trying to get to lectures.

The demonstrators, angry over planned reforms by President Nicolas Sarkozy, have been trying to block the entrances to the landmark Left Bank building for several days.

A university spokesman said today they resorted “to physical violence against students who wanted to go to class” and the decision was taken to close the university.

“People’s security is no longer guaranteed,” and the Sorbonne campus was being closed until Monday, the spokesman said.

Students at several French universities have been protesting against a law passed this summer allowing universities more autonomy to raise private funding, which they fear will lead the way to the “commercialisation” of free public education.

Their protests came alongside a nine-day strike by rail drivers against a retirement reform, another part of Mr Sarkozy’s broader plans to make France more economically competitive.

It was the first time the Sorbonne, a campus of the University of Paris, was closed because of protests since spring 2006, when students angry over a job law staged weeks of demonstrations that affected universities nationwide.