Police in Leiyang County, in central China’s Hunan province, on Sunday arrested 46 individuals for protesting the county’s oversized classrooms.

The previous day, parents had gathered in front of local schools and the Leiyang municipal Party committee building and blocked roads. The protestors accused the county of addressing the problem of oversized classrooms by transferring students from public schools to private schools and then charging high tuition fees. Some parents had also posted on social media that the private school dorms exceeded safe formaldehyde levels. The protestors refused to leave until police took away five individuals by force.

According to Sina News, when the protestors later marched to the public security bureau and demanded the release of the arrested individuals, police detained another 10. At around 10 p.m. on Saturday, 600 people gathered in front of the public security bureau, with some throwing bricks and glass bottles. Around 30 police and civilians were injured in the riot, and several vehicles were damaged. By early Sunday, 46 people had been arrested. According to Leiyang police, only one of the detained individuals has a child being affected by local education policies.

Editor: David Paulk.

(Header image: A parent and a technician test the air quality at a student dormitory in Leiyang County, Hunan province, August 2018. From Weibo user @浅笑89890)