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Professors and students in over 40 Spanish cities went on strike against the government’s education reform aimed at privatizing the public sector, on Tuesday.
According to the unions who organized the strike, there was an 85 percent participation rate. Highschools reached 90 percent participation around the country, according to a statement by unions Workers Commissions (CCOO), FETE-UGT, the Independent Central of State Officials (CSIF) and Students of Spain in Movement.
According to the statement, the general strike aimed to “address the repeated assaults via executive orders that claim to reform public university through the back door, mocking the participation of the educational community and setting up a model that leaves behind … underpriviledged families.”
The protests specifically targeted executive order 3+2 that will reduce undergraduate degrees from four years to three, but increase masters from one year to two.
The reform also significantly reduces grants and makes it harder to access them, disproporitionately affecting underpriviledged students.
The strike was the second organized so far this year against the education reform by the conservative government of Mario Rajoy.
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