Chilean students
Chilean students ask for guarantees for dialogue with the government
Santiago, Chile. – Chilean students, on strike for nearly four months, conditioned the beginning of a dialogue with the government to fulfill four conditions as “simple requirements and common sense.”
The president of the Student Federation of the University of Chile (Date), Camilla Vallejo, said that if the requested guarantees are met by the government, “we hope to start (dialogue) on Thursday.”
“We need guarantees to start the dialogue, I hope the answer is yes because they are simple requirements, common sense,” said Vallejo.
The demands raised by students are: brake on education bills sent to Congress, transmitting the dialogue table, to postpone the deadline to close the first half and did not provide resources to universities that profit.
Vallejo said the board of the Confederation of Students of Chile (CONFECH) presented the demands in the Office of the Ministry of Education and that explained a senior official who received them.
Vallejo said that “the idea was to meet with the minister, but apparently on their agenda has no time. We request that someone from the Ministry of Education, we received assurances to explain to initiate dialogue, “he said.
The government released last week, after a meeting of President Sebastian Pinero with student leaders, a schedule of meetings which includes three workshops and a three-week deadline for the adoption of resolutions.
The government proposal put on the agenda of the first bench, which was to begin today and sit until September 16, the system of grants and credits and tariffs of reference for students as well as the financing of universities.
The two remaining tables should discuss “desmunicipalización” of public education, regulation of quality in education, the purpose of profit universities, strengthening technical and vocational education, and student participation, among others.