Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday said he would use the police to break up student sit-ins if protests against spending cuts disrupted schools and universities.

Mr Berlusconi said the state would not tolerate sit-ins after students protested across the country against education reforms going through Parliament. The centre-left opposition said his comments would aggravate tensions.

"I want to give a weather warning: We won't allow schools and universities to be occupied because the occupation of public places is absolutely not democracy but constitutes violence towards other students, to families and to the state," Mr Berlusconi told a news conference.

"Today I will call the interior minister and give him detailed instructions on how to intervene with the police forces to stop these things from happening."

Thousands of teachers and pupils attended street protests last week against the education reforms, which the opposition says will axe 87,000 teachers' posts over the next three years. Several universities have experienced small-scale sit-ins. When asked by reporters to specify what powers the police would have, Mr Berlusconi replied: "I am absolutely convinced that the state must guarantee the rights of its citizens. We will act like a state. Those who commit crimes should know that."

Street protests and student demonstrations are common in Italy. The left wing criticised Mr Berlusconi's stance.

"I consider (his) words to be very grave," said opposition leader Walter Veltroni. "It seems to me that the Prime Minister chose to fan the flames, something he should not have done."

Mr Berlusconi beat Mr Veltroni at an April election and retains an approval rating of more than 60 per cent in some polls as his conservative government implements policies aimed at cracking down on crime and illegal immigration.

He also denied that a proposal to put immigrant children who do not speak sufficient Italian into separate classes was racist, saying the aim was to bring the children's Italian level up to an acceptable level.