Chilean president Sebastián Piñera promulgated on Wednesday the education review bill which besides increasing funding by a billion dollars reduces from 6% to 2% the interest rate on loans for students to finance their university fees.
Chilean President Sebastian Piñera said that his government would not tolerate police brutality. The remarks came after the police was accused of mistreating student protesters who were demanding educational reforms.
Thousands of young Chileans marched peacefully on Thursday in different cities demanding education reform and equal conditions and rights for all young Chileans, amid a heightened police presence.
Tens of thousands of students demonstrated on the streets of Chile's capital Wednesday seeking an overhaul of what they call one of the world's priciest and most unfair educational systems.
Camila Vallejo, Chile’s iconic students’ federation vice-president replied in her twitter to a scathing editorial from the Wall Street Journal saying the critique was evidence that Chilean public opinion is ‘becoming conscious’ and is ‘advancing’.
Chile's government on Thursday proposed a sweeping tax reform that raises levies on companies to help fund an education overhaul, as it seeks to quell social protests ahead of local elections seen as a litmus test for the 2013 presidential race.
Tens of thousands of students took to the streets in Chile in support of education reform. Organisers said at least 50.000 marched in the capital Santiago on Wednesday, with police saying 25.000 attended.
The state, not banks, are to fund higher education scholarships through the creation of a new specialized government agency, Chile’s Education minister, Harald Beyer, announced in a press conference at La Moneda on Monday.
Chile’s 23-year-old student leader Camila Vallejo, has been chosen as the person of the year in a poll of readers of British newspaper, The Guardian. Vallejo, the international face of 2011’s student protests in Chile, topped the poll with an overwhelming 78% of votes.
By COHA guest scholar Silvia Viñas
Foreigners on business trips usually travel from Chile’s Santiago International Airport to the city’s financial center in the El Golf neighborhood via the Costanera Norte or Vespucio Norte highways.