Colombians are mobilizing! Indigenous people have organized more than 30 marches in 2011. Miners launched some 70 protests. State workers have blocked the functioning of government bureaucracies. Agricultural workers, Afro-Colombian communities, anti-corruption activists, health workers, as well as students and teachers have all mobilized in major cities asking that their dissenting voices be heard.
The current student/teacher protests began when the Colombian government launched a reform of higher education that proposed supposedly better service for Colombians.In fact, what Minister of Education María Fernanda Campo Saavedra wanted was to transform public universities into for-profit organizations. This unprecedented move outraged university administrators, professors, and students.While the government initially backed down with the privatization proposal, it has surfaced again.Students are convinced this will stratify education in Colombia, making it inaccessible to many, reducing quality, and putting an end to university autonomy.
One key concern is that the government plans to cut public spending severely on public higher education.The idea would be to have public universities generate their own incomes, starting with sharp tuition increases.At present, public institutions have to find half of their budget on their own and without government help – this while the state spends an outrageous 3.7% of GDP on military expenses.
Today in Colombia, students are in the midst of a weeks-long protest to defend high quality public education for all.There are strikes at 30 of 32 public universities in the country, and students at 15 private universities have joined the protests, as have dozens of professors, journalists, writers and others across Latin America.Social networks have been central to the mobilization of international support. Our protests have been peaceful marches, night vigils, meetings, conferences, lectures, flashmobs, campouts at universities as well as other activities to disseminate information about our goals.
We have proposed the abrogation of the government’s privatization reforms and the substitution of a new reform that defends the strengths of our public universities and the right to an affordable education for all Colombians.
