Santiago de Chile Tens of thousands of students, teachers and parents took to the streets again Thursday to demand a functioning public education system in Chile. Proponents of free and public education marched in the cities of Santiago, Valparaíso, Concepción, Talca, Chillán, Los Ángeles y Temuco. In support of the new marches, students occupied more than a dozen universities and high schools. Since 2011, university and high school students have carried out a campaign to pressure the right-wing government of President Sebastián Piñera to reform the neoliberal education model inherited from the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship, in which education quality is determined by social class and many families must pay thousands for their children’s education. Moisés Paredes, spokesperson for the National Coalition of Secondary Students, said the fact that universal free education has become a central part of the debate surrounding primary contests to select candidates for the November general election is a good indication that the student movement is having an impact. Andrés Allamad and Pablo Longoria, the pre-candidates for the governing coalition, reject universal free education and propose instead to expand bursaries to the private schools. But Socialist candidate and former president Michelle Bachelet, promises an education reform package that includes making university free within 6 years.
Posted on: Sat, 15 Jun 2013 17:55:23 +0000
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