NOVI SAD, Serbia, April 27, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Thousands of citizens, led by high school pupils, blocked streets in Serbia's second-biggest city on Saturday to protest against online classes which they say aim to bypass their blockades of schools in ongoing anti-corruption demonstrations.

The protest in Novi Sad was the latest in months of anti-government rallies, sparked by the deadly collapse of a roof at a rail station in the city which was seen as a symptom of official corruption.

High school students from all over Serbia arrived in the nothern city on foot and by bicycle on Friday evening and started a rally on Saturday morning with a 16-minute silence for the 16 people killed in the disaster.

High school pupils have joined university students in the nationwide wave of protests -- the biggest in Serbia since the 1990s -- by blockading schools, in a move branded illegal by the government.

Principals sent emails to staff this month announcing that classes would move online.

In a statement on social media, the schools taking part in Saturday's protest said: "Online classes are not a solution and are unacceptable."

"There is no point in continuing the school year, especially with online classes, because we have already been on strike for five months," said Mateja Fejndovic, an 18-year-old pupil from a high school in Belgrade, who walked to Novi Sad.

"Online classes will not stop the blockades. We will not attend them."

With live music and speeches by teachers and pupils, the gathering was scheduled to last until after midnight.

Unions say around 20,000 teachers have stopped receiving their salaries for supporting the protests or failing to work during the blockades.

Protests have taken place almost daily, drawing hundreds of thousands of participants in major cities.

The pressure from the protests led to the resignation of the prime minister in January and the collapse of the government.

In response, nationalist President Aleksandar Vucic has alternated between calls for dialogue and accusations that the students are a threat to the state.