CHILE: MASSIVE STUDENT PROTESTS DEMAND GREATER STATE SUPPORT FOR EDUCATION, LEGAL REFORMS.
Large-scale student protests shut down Chile's public high schools and some universities for several weeks in May and June as students demanded greater government support for the nation's education system. The protests, which mobilized an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 students, resulted in hundreds of arrests and a number of violent scuffles with police and led to the resignation of the commander of Santiago's riot police. Newly inaugurated President Michelle Bachelet expressed sympathy for the student movement, although she and her ministers said the government did not have enough resources to fully fund their demands.
Complaints of regional inequalities
The students demanded major reforms of the country's education laws that give communities responsibility for public education. The students and many government critics say the system produces inequality because of regional differences in available resources. "We want the state to be the only guarantor and administrator of public education," said Javier Romero, a leader of the movement. "Only that would ensure equality."
Former education minister Jose Joaquin Brunner said Chile's poorest schools allocate an estimated US$73 a month per student, compared with more than US$385 at the wealthiest schools.
Bachelet had promised in her May 21 State of the Union address (her first) to invest heavily in health, housing, and education, saying, "I present to the country the four major transformations my government will push." The first transformation involved Chile's cash-strapped private pension system (see NotiSur, 2005-02-11). "The second transformation will happen in the education system. We need more pre-schools and schools and clubs of higher quality for the older children. The third transformation has to do with innovation and implementation of new policies to stimulate growth. The fourth transformation will permit us to have friendly neighborhoods with a good quality of life for the people," said Bachelet.
Yet the scope and implementation of these social reforms did not satisfy student groups, who brought their strike to a national level a week later when students took to the streets despite reports that protest leaders had urged students to remain inside their schools without attending classes, a decision supported by many teachers, parents, and politicians.
Students seek redraft of Pinochet-era education law
One central legal mechanism the students sought to change was the education law (Ley...
Para continuar leyendo
Solicita tu pruebaCOPYRIGHT GALE, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
