Updated on
Summary Police in riot gear evicted students from several schools but at least seven remained occupied.
Hundreds of students occupied high schools and blocked traffic in Chiles capital on Tuesday to demand education reform.Student leaders met with Santiago Mayor Pablo Zalaquett, who has threatened to remove scholarships from students who join the school takeovers, but the talks ended after two hours without an agreement.Zalaquetts scholarship threat was called an abuse of power by other mayors, but it received public support from Education Minister Harald Beyer.I think its sensible for a mayor who has limited resources to use these recourses on students who are committed to education, Beyer told reporters. We have to look out for the right to education.The changes sought by students who have been protesting and boycotting classes all week would fundamentally overhaul a school system that has been privatized since the 1973-90 dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.Mass demonstrations initially raised expectations for profound changes, but more than a year after the first protests, few students have seen any real benefits. Protesters say the system still fails families with poor quality public schools, expensive private universities, unprepared teachers and banks that make education loans at high interest rates that most Chileans can ill afford.The government plans to raise about $1 billion in taxes for education, but students say thats not enough. In an interview with The Associated Press earlier this year, Beyer said the government would not cede to their demands for free education, calling it an unfair, backward-looking policy.Last week, police used water cannons to break up a march by thousands of students in a protest where hooded vandals set three city buses on fire, 75 people were arrested and 49 policemen were injured. The government criticized student leaders for allowing the march, which had been banned by Santiagos municipal government.Gabriel Boric, the president of the University of Chile student federation, initially said the burning of the Transantiago mass transit system buses had been staged. But on Tuesday, via Twitter, he said he regretted the unfortunate comment. Boric also said he disapproves of violence, but supports the takeover of schools and the university students that he represents could soon join high school students in the occupations.If were coming to this extreme, this level of anger among students, its because this government has been unable to have a dialogue and give us any answers, Boric told local TV late Tuesday. The arrogance of (Education) Minister Beyer is one of the main reasons why students have taken control of high schools and were studying similar measures for next week.
