Chilean students occupy ministry of education, call for education reform
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Secondary students in Chile occupied the Ministry of Education on Jan. 4, a continuation of the ongoing struggle for education reform in the country. Opposing a new university entrance exam system, members of the Coordinating Assembly of Secondary Students (ACES) chained themselves to the doors of the Ministry of Education as student-led protests broke out elsewhere in Santiago. Nine people were arrested at the protests, including a news cameraman, as reported by
TeleSur.
Demonstrators say the new entrance exam, that was slated to begin Jan. 4, would exacerbate inequality in Chile’s already stratified education system. Some argue the country’s public school system is failing and won’t prepare students for the exam, which critics fear will funnel public school students into trade schools or bar them from university altogether. Meanwhile, wealthy students from Chile’s elite private schoo