Chile Government Faces New Enemy: Angry High School Students

August 15, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

In the latest salvo in the 18-month battle over education standards in Chile, high school students in Santiago have been barricading themselves into their classrooms to demand reform. The government has also escalated its side of the dispute: Santiago mayor Pablo Zalaquett has threatened to withdraw the scholarships of students participating in the occupations, while a new regulation, the Hinzpeter Law (derisively named after the nation's unpopular interior minister), seeks to replace fines for protestors with obligatory prison sentences of up to three years for those who block traffic or occupy buildings in any unauthorized demonstration. Al Jazeera's Lucia Newman reports from Santiago.

(more) (less)

In This Video

2011-2012 Chilean student protests

The 2010–2012 Chilean protests — known as the Chilean Winter or the Chilean Education Conflict — are a series of ongoing student-led protests across Chile, demanding a new framework for education in the country, including more direct state participation in secondary education ... Explore this topic

Chile

Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a South American country occupying a long, narrow strip of land between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake P... Explore this topic

Santiago

Santiago, formally Santiago de Chile, is the capital of Chile and the center of its largest conurbation. It is located in the country's central valley, at an elevation of 520 m above mean sea level. Founded in 1541, Santiago has been the capital city since colonial times. The ... Explore this topic

Student protest

Student protest encompasses a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academic issue and mobilization to communicate this dissatisfaction to the authorities and society in general and hopefully remedy the problem. Protest forms ... Explore this topic

Education in Chile

Education in Chile is divided in preschool, primary school, secondary school, and technical or higher education. Explore this topic

Rodrigo Hinzpeter

Rodrigo Javier Hinzpeter Kirberg is a Chilean lawyer and politician. He was one of the founders of National Renewal, a center-right political party. He was appointed Interior Minister on 11 March 2010 by President of Chile Sebastián Piñera. On 5 November 2012 he was appointed ... Explore this topic

Education reform

Education reform is the name given to a political process with the goal of improving public education. Small improvements in education theoretically have large social returns, in health, wealth and well-being. Historically, reforms have taken different forms because the motiva... Explore this topic

Pablo Zalaquett

Pablo Antonio Zalaquett Said is a business administrator, Chilean mayor of Santiago and member of the UDI, a member of the Alliance for Chile. Eisenhower Fellowships selected Pablo Zalaquett in 1999 to represent Chile. Explore this topic

High school

High school is an institution which provides all or part of secondary education. Other terms such as "secondary school" or "secondary college" are used in different nations or regions. The phrase "high school" often forms part of the name of the secondary institution. Explore this topic

Student

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English, although in the United States a person enrolled... Explore this topic

Also See

2011-2012 Chilean student protests

Chile

Santiago

Watch Next

1:08

Chile: Student Protests Turn into Violent Street Battles

ITN News | Apr 12

Violent protests in Chile as students battle police using molotov cocktails and stones while officers fought back with water cannon and tear gas. R...