Brasilia, February 13 (RHC) -– Representatives of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) on Wednesday staged a protest before several government institutions to demand education and land reform.

Some 20,000 protesters occupied a square flanked by the Brazilian Congress, the Supreme Court of Justice and the Government Palace.

The movement has been struggling to help hundreds of thousands of Brazilian families obtain land.

MST officials say thousands of schools have been closed down in rural areas in the past 12 years and demanded the government increase the the pace of the idle land distribution process.

Clashes were reported between the security forces and the protesters, leaving at least 30 police officers and two protesters injured.

Secretary General of the Presidency Gilberto Carvalho said President Dilma Rousseff will meet an MST delegation on Thursday to address these issues.

From Monday until Friday, the MST is holding its 6th National Congress and celebrating its 30th anniversary, to review its current situation and discuss its new strategies to fight for land, land reform and social change.

The MST was founded in 1984 and it is Brazil's main organized social movement