About 250 people, mostly young demonstrators, gathered peacefully outside Liège-Guillemins station on Saturday morning to protest against austerity measures and reforms affecting education.
The march set off towards the city centre at about 11:00, according to Belga reporters at the scene.
Protesters carried placards and chanted slogans. The crowd also included workers and parents, and many said their concerns extended beyond schools and universities to working conditions, public services and social inequality.
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Alek, a young worker in special needs education who attended with his family, said he sees the effects of underfunding on both service users and staff. He criticised the government’s budget choices, in particular spending on armaments.
Simon, a pupil at Athénée Léonie de Waha who has been involved in school blockades for the past two weeks, pointed to reforms affecting students, the TEC public transport network and tuition fees. He said he was also marching in support of mobilisation planned in France on Saturday.
More broadly, Simon said inequality and insecurity risk pushing some young people to abandon their studies.
His father, Benoît, who teaches at a university college, said he sees growing financial pressure in his classes, with students trying to combine study and paid work. His mother, Marie, said wider society was not doing enough to support young people taking to the streets.
Another participant, Alice, said she had come to back a social movement whose demands she believes are not being heard. While she regretted damage linked to some protests, she said past movements had also seen destruction and argued that such incidents often helped force change.
Calls for further mobilisation also circulated on social media, including mention of a possible gathering in Place Saint-Lambert on Saturday afternoon.
