INTRODUCTION 2

Chilean student conflict.

Background:

In 1973 a military dictatorship was installed in Chile which was aimed at the installation of a neoliberal economic system.  In that period;  health, pension and education were privatized, therefore, social rights were left to the private sector in the form of services where the person with the most money will be able to “buy services” of higher quality.

The problem stars when not all people have the money to pay for the high costs of education.  The annual tuition in a university varies between 3,900 dollars and 10,000 dollars and the minimum Chilean salary is about 380 dollars.

As you can see, education is not accessible to all people for its high cost.

Problem:

The year 2011, the students came out to protest against the high costs of education, the commercialization that education generated at the hands of the private sector, and the lack of quality when educating. Demanding the government, an education “free, quality and non-profit”

The student mobilization began with stoppage and then with takings of educational establishments for more than seven months.

Long protests were made throughout Chile, articulating the different political organizations, secondary and university student, parents and teachers.

The mobilization achieved a union in the society before the demand; this caused a great impact at a communicational level throughout the world.  

Proposed Solution:

The best solution to solve this conflict is educational gratuity for all, and talks with the actors of the mobilizations for future educational reforms. It is necessary that the state be the guarantor of the right to education. 

One of the solutions that the government gave was a free scholarship for the 60% most vulnerable. It is necessary to extend this coverage until reaching total gratuity.