High School Students to Join In Chile Education Reform Protests

Students representing the national secondary student coordination Cones announced that the country’s high school students will participate in an upcoming march in support of education reform.

Following a meeting between student leaders, spokesman for the group Ricardo Paredes stated, “The student movement has a proposal and we want to participate in the education reform.”

Paredes emphasized the importance of Wednesday’s demonstration, stating, “We believe it is important so that we are finally able to have a proposal in the national education debate.”

Student-led demonstrations, which have demanded reform in the country’s education system, have been ongoing since 2011.

The government of President Michelle Bachelet has already approved the first part of the education reform process, which will gradually ban profits, tuition fees and selective admissions practices in privately-owned primary and secondary schools that receive State subsidies.

The second phase of the education reform bill, which is currently going through Congress, has only partially met the demands of students.

Students are concerned that the state will not allocate sufficient funds in order for the reform to go ahead and say the government may backtrack on its promise.

The Ministry of Education is studying a controversial proposal to charge a special tax on professionals who have completed higher education and earn a high wage.

The government of Michelle Bachelet has committed to providing universal higher education by 2016 in response to the massive student protests that plagued the administration of her predecessor Sebastian Piñera.

The total cost of Bachelet’s proposed education reforms is estimated at around US$8 billion.