Colombia: On strike against poor education
Friday, October 14th, 2011
(("Education is not for sale" -- El Colombiano photo))
[Translation of an article from Página/12 of Buenos Aires for October 12. See original here.]
University leaders, inspired by the Chilean protests, warn that the educational reform reveals the privatizing spirit of the government of Juan Manuel Santos. The president claims the law is intended to improve the system.
By Katalina Vásquez Guzmán
Wearing leather shoes, because it’s a long walk, Kevin gets ready to march against the education reform that the Juan Manuel Santos administration is steering through Congress. Today workers and teachers will join students in the national strike to pressure the executive to give up the bill and to draw up a new proposal in conjunction with student groups and university leaders. The student federations that called on the more than 500,000 students in Colombian public universities to strike regard Santos’ reform as a threat, without consent. This would be one of the most important national protests since Álvaro Uribe’s successor assumed the presidency. (more…)