A blow struck for education in Chile by the left.

[Starry Messenger]

I know some have been following the work of Camila Vallejo, the youthful and extraordinary leftist student leader in Chile. Yesterday, the Chilean education secretary stepped down under pressure from massive protests that began last year. Evidently she is not the leader of the Federation of Chilean Students anymore, but I think we can credit this to the foundations she laid. (More on her here, video: http://www.reuters.com/video/2011/12/20/the-guardian-readers-vote-chiles-student?videoId=227188165)

Chile Education Minister Felipe Bulnes resigns
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-16361117

Student leader Camila Vallejo told Radio Cooperativa that the change showed the "desperation" of the government, which had not been able to address the problems in Chile's education system.

The campaign for educational reform is the biggest protest movement Chile has seen since the return to democracy in 1990.

Protests have subsided in recent weeks as Chile entered the summer holiday period.

But the new leader of the Federation of Chilean Students, Gabriel Boric, has promised that demonstrations will resume in March using new tactics.

Since the US was responsible for importing privatization of education into Chile in the first place, and are trying to replicate the same model here*, it is good to see that a coalition people's front can shake the 1%er profit-based education schemes.

*(http://willyloman.wordpress.com/2010/10/03/waiting-for-superman-neoliberal-propaganda-marketing-pinochets-school-system-to-the-american-left/--a long read but good overview of the state of corporate education "reform" in the US and how it is connected to Chile)

[marmar]

1. Ms Vallejo, future president of Chile?

[Starry Messenger]

2. Yes!