Chilean student protests

828 Words2 Pages

In 1973, Augusto Pinochet, Commander in Chief of the Chilean army, became the dictator of Chile, South America. With Pinochet’s 17-year military rule, came a number of constitutional and economic reforms allegedly implemented in order to stabilize the economy of Chile; this was done through the privatization of state controlled agencies, including the education system. Over the years, the quality of education in Chile dramatically decreased due to an overall increase in the number of private universities, as well as, lack of investment and insufficient funding; Chile’s per student spending allowance is only $2,694 compared to the average of $7,525. The owners of Chile’s for profit universities set fees arbitrarily and rarely reinvest the profits back into the institutions; the misappropriation of school funding has had detrimental effects on the education system due to inaccessibility and the lack of a competent and capable teaching staff employed. A majority of Chilean citizens cannot afford to attend private universities and only 40% of Chilean students qualify for a free education. Often students must choose between being inundated for decades by inflated student loans, or forgo an education altogether and go directly into the labor force. Students who risk massive financial debt to attend privatized universities and training schools often graduate without the skills necessary to be successful in the job market. Although, a new government was installed in 1993, the Pinochet era constitution and economic policies are still in place. This system disproportionately favors the wealthy and exacerbates economic inequalities between Chileans. (Slater, 2012)
Chilean students have initiated an ongoing political movement in response ...

... middle of paper ...

...t the student movements have had a vital impact on the country; rest will not come until social reforms to create less inequality occur.

Works Cited

Agencia EFE. (2013, 09 5). Chilean students demand end to pinochet education model. Global Post. Retrieved from http://www.globalpost.com
Cabalin, C. (2012). Neoliberal education and student movements in Chile: inequalities and malaise. Policy Futures in Education ,10(9), 219-228.
Long, G. (2011). Chile student protests point to deep discontent. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-14487555
Slater, S. (2012). The Chilean student movement: reflections and projections. Washington Report on the Hemisphere, 32(9), 5-7.
Weinstein, J. (2011). More equity in education: The Chilean students' outcry. The Phi Delta Kappan, 93(3), 76-77. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23048929

Show More
Related

  • Colombia Case Study

    2226 Words  | 5 Pages

    Most public school in Colombia are underfunded and have very few resources. According to the CIA Fact book education expenditures equal to 4.4% of the GDP. School life expectancy is 13 years and the unemployment rate for your ages between 15- 24 is 21.9 %. These numbers are in direct correlation with the terrorism conflict. The state has to concentrate its spending on military expenditures. This conflict also caused Colombia to become the country with the highest number of Internally Displaced Population. Official, there are 4,175,000 internally displaced people that lost their farms or homes due to the conflict in the rural areas. These people do not receive any assistance and went from being farmers and having a source of income to absolutely nothing. Most move into large cities and live in slumps. President Santos realizes the importance of education assured that “If we want to be free of poverty, if we want to combat it and if we wish to be the most socially unequal continent in the word, worse than Africa, education has to be our primary tool”. Santos believes that this has to be an “American movement. All of the Latin American states have to join together and make education a fundamental objective by creating a regional education

    Read More

  • Student Protests in 1968 and 1970: A Rebellious Generation

    1507 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the year 1968, the Vietnam War had taken control of the minds and the hearts of millions of Americans and other individuals around the world. The Tet was initiated by Vietcong warriors in South Vietnam, where the warriors launched a full scale attack on every major city in the south of the country. This shattered the dreams of those who had hoped that the war would end quickly and that there would be peace and not Communism in the country of Vietnam. Nixon decided to spice things up a bit and invade nearby Cambodia in 1970 saying that he would not allow the biggest superpower in the world to appear “like a pitiful, helpless giant.” Meanwhile, in many different universities across the U.S, several students felt a spark in them evoked by the war in Vietnam and by the restrictive punishments of their respected colleges. To fight this, they organized gatherings and student strikes to promote their way of thinking to their parents and to anyone who would listen. These students were protesting against the Vietnam War, conformity, and the harsh rules of the elite colleges, to prove that their voices were worthy to be heard.

    Read More

  • Educational Inequality

    1207 Words  | 3 Pages

    Many people believe that “having an economy that places a greater value on skills and education is a good thing” and that is the thing that is needed to improve people’s lives and futures (Baicker, Lazear). If what our economy is trying to do a good thing they why are so many students still suffering? The main issues are the low-income education that many students have. Many schools are getting money from the government but that is not enough to pay for everything students need. Educational standards have continued to increase throughout the years but that does not help the students who are unable to pay for the better education. These students who cannot pay for the better education are stuck barely getting by with a low education. A low-education can affect many areas of regular schooling. The students who are at low-income schools do not know what type of disadvantage they have compared to other students across the country. These students believe that they are getting the best education, but there are many students who are getting a better education at a school that has the funds to pay for everything their students need. Low-income students are suffering due to the environment they are in at school and they continue to suffer throughout their life due to it. These students will continue to suffer unless something is done about the low-income schools and improve them for the future. Improvement has to come from all areas, not just one aspect of schooling but from all aspects. Although education has improved along with technology many low-income students still suffer from the vast inequalities. These inequalities will take many years to find a way to fix and even more years to actually fix, until this happens the students will...

    Read More

  • A College Education Is Not Worth The Time and Money

    1582 Words  | 4 Pages

    High schools build their students up to go to college. They don’t expose the students to any other paths but getting a higher education. There are no high schools anymore that teach their students how to start their own business or invent their own product. They don’t educate their students on how to use the Internet to become more educated with things without going to college. In the 1970’s a college student could afford their college tuition without student loans or getting financial assistance their parents. They were able to pay by working a part time job year round or a job over the summer on their time off. The government destroyed this by providing easy students loans to anyone who applied. There weren’t any credit requirements for taking the loans out. According to a documentary called “Conspiracy Scam” on youtube, tuition for a four-year college costs $29,293. It also states that price went ...

    Read More

  • The American Education

    1841 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Joel Spring?s book American Education, he uses several examples of the politics and economics surrounding education. Spring discusses the decade of the 1970s, in which businesses put such a demand on the educational system to create educational opportunities in the fields of science and engineering. During this decade, the nation was in an ?educational inflation pe...

    Read More

  • Going (to College) for Broke

    842 Words  | 2 Pages

    Free higher education has several economic benefits for students and for the government. According to Thomas Mortenson from the American Council on Education, tuition has risen 230% at state universities and 164% at community colleges since 1980. Student loan debt has reached 1 trillion dollars. As stated by Scott Hines, the founder of the World Education University, “the return on investment just isn’t there.” Many students choose to drop out or skip college altogether because of the high costs. These issues will be resolved if the government funds colleges and more people will be able to graduate. Currently, the government spends billions of dollars on academic programs with very low graduation rates, around 30% (Samuels). This is because colleges spent too much money on luxuries and amenities, and as a result, they raise tuitions while the quality of instruction remains the same. If higher education were government funded and caps placed on tuitio...

    Read More

  • Radical Protest At VPI

    113 Words  | 1 Pages

    I am writing to you as a student and radical protester at VPI. I always participate in the protests that we have around campus, because I believe it’s important to voice what you believe in. Unlike the other groups around campus, the ones who chose not to get involved, I am willing to make a difference. It upsets me to see how the campus and the police have treated the 107 students that participated in the sit in. These students were simply standing up for their beliefs. We should be more focused on the war instead of an issue that caused no harm.

    Read More

  • College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be by Andrew Delbanco

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    The biggest question or dispute regarding the cost of higher education is finding the appropriate monetary and economical equation to determine the percentage of personal and public responsibility. The above debate has been in question since the 1800’s when Thomas Jefferson stated; "I think by far the most important bill in our whole code is that for the diffusion of knowledge among the people. No other sure foundation can be devised, for the preservation of freedom and happiness ”. Those important words that called attention to the importance of having an educated citizenry in order to preserve democracy are until this day, words by which legislator...

    Read More

  • Anti-Government Protests In Venezuela

    1491 Words  | 3 Pages

    Venezuela has been met by a series of anti-government protests since February this year. These protests are being influenced due to various factors and intentions. The protestors are being accused by the government as inciting violence, and are being highly oppressed by military forces. This is causing high social unrest and leading to excessive violence throughout the protests. Economic factors, have significantly influenced and pressured the Venezuelan people towards these protests. The presidencies of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro, the socialist regime, the soaring high levels of inflation and stagflation and the crime and murder rates in this nation are all factors leading to the Venezuelan conflict.

    Read More

  • The Benefits Of Education In Latin America

    2026 Words  | 5 Pages

    Spending money on public universities is a problem mainly because the students attending said universities come from families that could easily pay for private schooling. However, since families see that public universities are getting a large amount of funding they chose to send their students there and save their money instead of spending more on a private education. “In Brazil the public universities have just 2% of all pupils in the education system, but get 25% of its funds” (Education in Latin America: Cramming them in). Even though universities should get funding, it should not be receiving a significant amount if such a low percentage of students are attending. That money from the existing funds can be spent towards enhancing and remodeling school buildings for students in primary and secondary levels. To go along with classroom resources, schools in Latin American countries also has many “poorly trained teachers” which means “education spending in Latin America is wasted” (Education in Latin America: Cramming them in). Instead of paying someone who has a college degree or is qualified to teach, schools hire untrained and unqualified teachers to do the job. Unlike the United States, Latin American countries do not focus on training teachers or teacher aides in safety regulations, teaching strategies, classroom management, etc. Having a poorly trained teacher adds onto the school’s disorganization. To work in a school in the U.S one must have some sort of high school diploma if not some college education or college degree. Ham and Castillo write, “Honduran teachers had no more than a high school education, and about half had nine or fewer years of formal schooling.” Although

    Read More

  • The Education Crisis in America

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...but the education system should be the first act of motion. When you look at our education system compared to China’s dominant education plans, you can tell we have leaps and bounds to go. The government needs to recognize the problems facing our education system and it’s future. By addressing problems like the lack of funds that public school systems seem to be facing a lot can be turned around. Giving teachers more rewards for doing the job they have decided to take on, can help change the attitude of staff and teachers. Recognizing their importance can help them want to achieve the goals the administration has set before them. Also, by adding more options for students while in high school should increase the attentiveness and over all interest in school. By doing all these things the government can really help turn the crisis we face into something to celebrate.

    Read More

  • The Venezuelan Crisis: Protest, Shortages, and Violence

    924 Words  | 2 Pages

    Food shortages, high inflation rates, protest, and violence: one sees these headlines in a Google search of Venezuela today. All around the country, there are long lines to buy simple necessities, like bread and milk. High inflation rates lead to shortages of food supplies, which increase frustration leading to protests in the streets and, sadly, an increase of violence. The protests and violence result from the inability of Venezuelans to provide the most basic human needs for their families. Sky-rocketing inflation rates in Venezuela are the result of Hugo Chavez, the former socialist and revolutionary leader of the country, and his administration. While in power, Chavez was so consumed with fixing the social issues in Venezuela, that other aspects of the country were ignored – like the economy. In 2014, Venezuela is left with a destroyed economy, angry people, and a government that is trying to fix the many issues the country currently faces; although the government is committed to finding solutions, the people of Venezuela do not feel the government is fixing the problems fast enough.

    Read More

  • Income Inequality In Education

    479 Words  | 1 Pages

    Income inequality in the United States is directly correlated with education decline over the past 40 years. People with lower incomes tend to have less opportunities for a good education than those with higher incomes. American education, when compared to other nations, has dropped dramatically due largely to a rise in income inequality since the 1970s. Not only has economic inequality lead to academic decline and disparity, but academic disparity has also tended to lead to further economic inequality. Because of this, improving the American education system can effectively decrease the income gap. If done correctly, the usage of an alternative school model, specifically the private school model, rather than the usual public school model can reduce economic inequality.

    Read More

  • The Importance of College Education

    1357 Words  | 3 Pages

    A college education costs a lot these days, but is a huge investment. The amount of money that the average college graduate earns is much greater than the money that the average high school graduate earns. Over the decades, the education pay gap between the educated, and the ...

    Read More

  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF)

    2037 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... sums of money that could be spent on education to debt repayment. Structural adjustment makes the problem worse, as the IMF demand government spending cuts and privatization measures in education. What money remains for education goes to primary schools, with education beyond elementary levels shifting to a fee-for-service basis. In Mexico, the Bank advised the government to abolish constitutionally guaranteed free education at the national university, provoking a lengthy student strike. The rich get an education. The poor get sweatshop jobs.

    Read More

More about Chilean student protests

Open Document