Caracas - At least 12 reporters were injured Thursday in Caracas while they campaigned against a controversial new education bill sponsored by the government of President Hugo Chavez.

The group was handing out leaflets against a specific article in the proposed bill that would allow the Education Ministry to suspend broadcasting by any media whenever the ministry sees fit, a spokesman for the reporters said.

The reporters, who work for the dailies Ultimas Noticias, El Mundo and Lider en Deportes, were on the central Urdaneta Avenue when they were insulted and attacked with stones and sticks, allegedly by Chavez supporters. They were handing out leaflets against the proposed legislation.

The reporters were initially taken care of at the nearby building of El Mundo, but several later went to hospital for treatment, Juan Pablo Arocha, a spokesman for El Mundo reporters, told the German Press Agency dpa.

Earlier, groups marching for and against the proposal headed for the National Assembly building, where the bill was being debated. However, only supporters of the planned legislation made it to the National Assembly, while tear gas was used to break up the group of critics.

The legislature was expected to pass, since Chavez supporters have a large majority in the chamber.

According to the Venezuelan government, the new law would boost university autonomy, integration between families and teachers, and equal access to education.

Critics, however, say it would work against university autonomy and line up students with the current government's socialist ideology.(dpa)