THOUSANDS OF DANISH STUDENTS PROTEST OVER STUDENT ALLOWANCE CUTS

Thousands of students marched through Copenhagen on Wednesday under the banner "Enough Is Enough" to protest against government plans to cut Denmark's student allowance, known as SU. Organisers said 12,000 to 13,000 people joined the march from City Hall Square to parliament, while some 40,000 students at 57 schools took part in strikes and walkouts. Police supervised the protest, which passed off peacefully. Accounts differ on how many student associations organised it, with figures ranging from 11 to more than a dozen. Demonstrators carried placards reading "Save SU" and "Don't Cheat the Young".

Denmark's centre-left government has proposed abolishing SU, in a draft budget bill, for students living with parents whose combined income exceeds 700,000 kroner, about $104,440. Parents earning between 419,589 and 700,000 kroner would see allowances reduced on a sliding scale. SU has previously been paid to all students over 18. Oscar Tonsberg Hoffmann, president of the Danish Secondary school Students' Association, said: "In Denmark, we get funding and economic support for getting an education, and we're very proud of this." He said it would be wrong to dismantle "one of the world's strongest educational systems".

Agronomy student Kieran Hindshaw said he felt betrayed, arguing the cuts come from a government that includes left-wing parties while funding corporate tax cuts and defence spending. He said he hoped ministers would "look at this demonstration and change their mind". The march is part of a wider wave of student protests against education funding cuts that began in France and has spread across Europe. Organisers said the SU cuts are intended partly to free up funds for defence spending.