( CNN ) Students en route to Yangon , Myanmar , to protest an education bill were met with violence from police Tuesday , according to multiple media reports and international watch groups . `` We all watched while a young man was beaten extremely hard and repeatedly by about three or four policemen in heavy riot gear , '' U Zarni , a spokesman for the Cooperative Committee for Trade Unions , told CNN . Students are seeking changes to an education bill that they say limits academic freedom and have been in negotiations with authorities , but these have been curbed because of the crackdown . The violence Tuesday occurred in Letpadan , a town of about 145 kilometers ( 90 miles ) north of Yangon , the nation 's largest city . The students ' march began in Mandalay , about 640 kilometers ( 400 miles ) north of Yangon . Zarni said the students had been `` given the red light '' on proceeding to Yangon . `` They had decided they would drive into the city , meet with other students there for 15 minutes of talks and then disperse , '' Zarni said . `` But within about an hour of being given this information , they were told that was n't the case . '' `` Some students decided they would try , thinking the police would just take them away , but the police were so brutal . '' Police arrested about 40 to 50 people , according to Zarni . `` They broke a reporter 's camera and cheered about it . They hit women . They hit monks who were also there . They went into the monastery and detained everyone who had run to hide in there , '' Zarni said . Human rights issues have been at the forefront in Myanmar , also known as Burma , as the country emerges from decades of authoritarian military rule , with elections planned for late this year . `` The public and we are losing confidence in the democratic transitions , '' Zarni said . Khin Lay , director of the Triangle Women Support Group , agreed . `` Students , human rights , women 's rights -- we 're all extremely angry about the way we have been treated over the years , '' said Lay . `` But we 've been waiting for the 2015 elections with patience because we believe in the democracy movement , and we 're hoping that we have the opportunity to exercise our right to vote . So they should show us some respect , too . ''
Police in town north of Yangon , Myanmar , crack down on students marching in protest of an education bill . Score: 6