Bachelet bows to student demonstrations

President Michelle Bachelet offered several concessions to Chilean high school students, whose nationwide protests of up to 600,000 people posed an early challenge to her three-month-old government. The student demonstrations and walkouts were considered the largest in Chilean history. The concessions address issues ranging from reduced transportation fares to building repairs to the students' core demand: a federal takeover of the country's regionalized education system to reduce inequality between rich and poor schools. Bachelet said the government will send a bill to congress to reform the country's education law, which gives municipalities responsibility for public schools. "The state will be the guarantor of a quality education for all Chileans," Bachelet said. Critics say the law, which was issued by former dictator Augusto Pinochet one day before he left power in 1990, breeds inequality because of regional differences in available resources. Bachelet did not elaborate on the changes she has in mind, but said the government would consult with students. The socialist president announced emergency financing to provide free lunch at school for 500 poor students, repair 500 school buildings and renovate furniture at 1,200 others. Bachelet also agreed to eliminate a $55 fee for an exit exam required for college applications, and said poor students would no longer have to pay $5.50 for a public transportation pass. Protests began two weeks ago when students took over a few schools in the capital–sleeping overnight in classrooms and eating food brought in by sympathetic parents. The movement then spread across the country. At least 20 people were injured and 700 arrested in three straight days of militant student protests that caused millions of dollars of property damage. The government sacked the head of the special forces of the Carabineros militarized police, Col. Osvaldo Jara, for a brutal crackdown on May 30 on demonstrators and journalists in Santiago. "We will not accept deplorable acts," said Bachelet, criticizing the police action, in a press conference alongside the head of the Chilean bar association, Alejandro Gullier. Gullier announced that the bar association would take legal action against the police for assaulting two cameramen and a photojournalist. "We have expressed our indignation over these incidents in which journalists, photographers and students suffered excesses, abuse, and deplorable and unjustifiable violence," said the 54-year-old president, who took office on Mar. 11. The violence in Santiago contrasted with the peaceful nature of the demonstrations held by students and teachers in the rest of the country, where there were just a few isolated incidents, and only around 100 protesters were arrested. The Coordinating Assembly of Secondary Students, which organized the demonstrations, also decided to bring legal action against the Carabineros. Pinochet's law on education (LOCE) virtually dismantled the public education system by transferring the administration of schools to municipal governments, and creating "subsidized" private schools that receive public funds in accordance with the number of students. LOCE also paved the way for the mushrooming of private colleges, which now outnumber public universities, charge high tuition fees, and in many cases are run by private business groups. "Secondary students are waging a historic battle to put an end to the 'marketization' of education," said Fabiana Silva, a student protester. Statistics on the quality of education in Chile show that students in fully private schools and a handful of top public schools have the best academic performance, followed by students at subsidized private schools. Municipal schools show the lowest levels of achievement. Student federations at Chile's leading universities support the secondary student movement, as do the teachers and parents associations and a number of other social organizations.