Police in Chile arrested Monday about 30 teachers who took their protest inside the education ministry claiming they had not received a special pay package promised by the government.

Demonstrators led by Santiago union chief Jorge Abedrapo tried to reach the office of Education Minister Andres Velasco to demand compensation for lost earnings since changes to the educational system in 1981.

"There is a debt to be paid here. We are not asking for anything, no raise or bonus; we are just asking the government to keep its word," teachers' organizer Silvia Saldivia said.

The arrests came on the eleventh day of a separate, open-ended walkout by teachers demanding pay hikes. The government said about 6,000 teachers - 15 percent of those who staged the walkout - were back in their classrooms.