An estimated 25,000 Chilean students and supporters marched Thursday through the streets of the capital Santiago, the latest move of a two-year battle for affordable, quality education.

The mostly secondary school and university students marched along the city's main boulevard to gather outside the downtown University of Santiago, occasionally clashing with uniformed police.

Protests also broke out in other main cities in Chile, as young people demand for education reform in a country with one of the highest school and university tuition rates in Latin America.

Though students marched peacefully, chanting anti-government slogans and calling for better public education, there were several skirmishes between radical protesters and riot police. The number of injuries or detentions was unavailable as yet.

The mass protests by students, beginning in 2011, have produced the biggest social unrest since the 1990 democracy movement that brought down the military dictatorship in Chile.

The crisis has rocked the government of conservative President Sebastian Pinera, whose popularity crumbled as the demonstrations continued.

Two of his education ministers had to resign, as did the head of the Justice Ministry, after he was embroiled in a corruption scheme that accredited private universities in exchange for cash.

Students have vowed to continue their protests, promising a major flash point in the presidential elections scheduled for November.