Chile: Massive Student Protests Call for Reform

August 04, 2011 from Democracy Now!

In Chile, tens of thousands of students have been protesting across the country for the last several weeks demanding comprehensive educational reforms. Students have expressed frustration at President Sebastian Pinera's failure to respond their demands. Last week, high school students in the port city of Antofagasta joined a hunger strike by students called earlier in the capital, Santiago. They are demanding an end to privatized education in Chile which has left generations of students deep in debt. Democracy Now! interviews Chilean political scientist Patricio Navia in Santiago. He teaches at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University and at the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago. He writes regularly for the Chilean newspaper, La Tercera.

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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

Protest

An act of defiance or objection by an individual or group of people. Protests can take many forms: peaceful or violent, direct or indirect, large or small. Protests in the news are often political in nature, as groups of citizens voice their disagreement or dissatisfaction. Pr... 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

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

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

Hunger strike

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will tak... Explore this topic

Santiago

Сантијаго де Чиле, често називан само Сантијаго је главни град Републике Чиле и управно средиште истоименог метрополитанскog регионa. Његово шире гратско подручје познато је под именом Гранд Сантијаго. Град је административни, привредни, културни и финансијски центар Републике... Explore this topic

Education policy

Education policy are the principles and government policy-making in educational sphere, as well as the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. Education occurs in many forms for many purposes through many institutions. Examples include earl... Explore this topic

Antofagasta

Антофага́ста — город и морской порт в Чили. Административный центр одноименной коммуны. Население города — 285 255 человек. Город и коммуна входит в состав провинции Антофагаста и области Антофагаста. Территория коммуны — 30718 км². Численность населения коммуны — 410 000 жите... Explore this topic

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2011-2012 Chilean student protests

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