Education Revolution (5/30-6/3)

This posting isn't so much about Deb and I as it is about current happenings here in Chile. Student uprisings are the center of media reports these days. Currently there are serious protests demanding educational reform. Actually, Chile is relatively fortunate because education is free and a right of everyone in the country. Granted, there are many complaints about the public school system. Facilities are often inadequate, teachers need better training and pay, student transportation isn't always free, and testing for university entrance is costly. Truthfully, the list goes on, but these are the major issues. So students are taking over the schools, rioting in the streets, and vandalizing in many sectors of Santiago and surrounding communities. So the national Educatioin Council is encouraging negotiations to work out the problems. While not everyone is participating, many are expressing their opinions about the needed changes. Signs have appeared, like "Our youth are our future.", "Education isn't a negotiation, it's a right.", and "If not us, who. If not now, when." Finally, on June first, President (Michelle) Bachelet appeared on a nationally televised news broadcast, making some promises to meet the needs/demands of the education system. This seems to have stopped the rioting, at least temporarily.

So how has this effected Deb and I. Well, my class was supposed to go on a field trip concerning meteorology and weather forecasting. But we cancelled it because of the rioting. The school sent out letters to all the staff at Lincoln empathizing with the needed reforms, but warning anyone against participating in ANY manner. Deb was given the reponsibility of showing some ADS people from the States around Santiago on June 2, but worried about taking them downtown before they knew for sure there was no rioting. They went anyway and saw lots of well armed police and trucks equipped with water cannons there "just in case" something happened. And today Deb and I took a walk past a new public school in our community. Apparently there had been student uprisings in this school too. We saw student desks piled as barricades, broken windows, and banners declaring a "take-over" and "students on strike". What a shame! I don't understand how destroying the facility improves education. Hopefully, the worst is over and negotiations will end the violence.