Penguins Back on the Attack

Chile’s public high school students announced this Saturday they will remain on the Presidential Education Reforms Commission. Students had threatened to walk away from the negotiating table because of the slow pace of reforms talks. The decision came at the end of a daylong meeting where they discussed their options that included walking out from the Commission’s work and begin the second national students’ strike.

Student spokesperson María Jesus Sanhueza said at a press conference they students’ movement is a responsible organization working towards improving the quality of public education with sound proposals they expect be taken seriously. She added that they are unhappy with the pace of the Commission.

The President of the Teachers’ Union and the former President of the University of Chile, also criticized the work of the Commission, charging there is far too much dawdling and that some Commissioners do not show up to meetings.

But on Monday, the Commission’s President disputed the students’ complaints, saying they have yet to table any proposal and called their criticism of the Commission’s work “lacking objectivity.”

The Commission is made up of 78 members from different parts of the educational sector, eight of the members are public high school students.

The Commission is expected to table its final report outlining changes to Chile's educational system in December. It is expected to file a draft report in the next few weeks, but high school students warn if their demands are not addressed they will walk away from the Commission and call for a second national strike mimicking this past April and May stoppage.

Last Thursday high school students demonstrated and despite small pockets of violence, where students fought with police and the arrest of some 220 students, high school spokesperson Maximiliano Mellado called the demonstration peaceful and positive.

President Michelle Bachelet convened the Commission after agreeing to meet the students' demands for a new Education Act, better funding to public schools and do away with the current for-profit education model that regulates the educational system.