Jane Davidson spoke to protesters before going into the school

They blocked the gate into Ysgol Gyfun Gymunedol Penweddig in Aberystwyth, barring Ms Davidson's official car.

The demonstrators were calling for better Welsh language higher education.

Ms Davidson left her to car to talk to them for about 15 minutes, before entering the school by foot.

Thursday morning's protest was the latest by students on the issue of Welsh language university provision.

On Tuesday about 50 students slept the night outside the Welsh assembly in Cardiff Bay.

They included many from Aberystwyth, who claimed students who wanted to learn through Welsh were being treated as "second class citizens".

Ms Davidson was in Ceredigion on Thursday to see how a scheme known as the Jac project has benefited primary school pupils.

The project, the only one of its kind at primary level in Wales, allows children to have lessons in gardening, cookery, woodwork and metalwork.

Councillors hope to persuade Ms Davidson to provide more money to extend the scheme to other schools.

The Welsh Assembly Government has responded to the protests by saying it has put substantial money into Welsh-medium education.

It said extra funds were going to projects to expand courses offered in Welsh and to recruit staff.

There have been claims that just �1.6m was allocated to teaching in Welsh, but the assembly government said this was on top of the cost of teaching students.

Ms Davidson has also said the funding allocated to teaching students in Welsh - �237m - needed to be acknowledged.