Chilean authorities on Monday arrested some 20 student protesters occupying schools to demand education reform, local media said. The arrests were made in a police operation to evict protesters from the two schools in Santiago. Five other schools had also been briefly occupied. Last week, students continued their protests against what they dubbed the government's "indifference" to their demands of strengthening public education and curbing profit-oriented private schools. During the protests, police used tear gas and water cannons against the protesters and arrested about 75 students, and three buses were torched. Last year, the students began their protests to demand free university education and central government control over public schools. Opinion polls show that the protests have significantly decreased the popularity of President Sebastian Pinera.