Friday, July 1, 2011

La Educación Chilena no se vende... SE DEFIENDE!!!

I began this blogpost las week, but I could not complete it because I was so upset and frustrated. The situation which I wrote about has not been resolved and hopefully I will find out soon if I will be able to return to my normal work life.

As of 2:00am (EST) this morning, my school has been in toma. It's less of a toma and more of a coup d'état. There has been a handful of students who not only manipulated the administration, but also their own student government, and parents and they took over the school. More than 200 schools across the country (somewhere around 220+) are either in paro or toma. The administration was shocked because they had been in dialogue with the Student Council they were optimistic that they were going to come to a compromise that would have made both sides happy. Unfortunately, whatever work the student government did and wanted for the student body has gone out the window. I woke up this morning hopeful.  I got ready for work, walked out the house and walked the 2.1 km I walk every morning to work. I was in a good mood and ready to meet with my kids from 3˚ Medio who will be participating in the MOEA at the Universidad de Chile. When I was about a block away from work, I saw the librarian waiting outside and talking on her cellular phone. She looked preoccupied. I figured I would ask her what was wrong when I would reach the school. By the time I arrived, I did not have to ask. The school was in toma.

We wanted to know who had taken the school and we wanted to know if the student government was involved. They were not. The kids arrived not knowing what the situation was. They were being interrogated by the faculty because the faculty assume they knew who was responsible. They knew about as much as we knew. Everyone was upset and parents of the preschoolers and kids in the elementary grades were furious. They were furious and outraged because they brought their kids assuming they would have a place to go while they go to work. They assumed their kids were going to be getting breakfast and lunch because these were meals they knew their kids were going to be guarantee d. When the parents would not leave, some of the kids who were responsible for the toma came out of the school to talk to the parents. They told the parents they could leave the kids with them. There "were" teachers inside of the school. The faculty, however, stepped in when they heard this. They told the parents there were absolutely no teachers inside of the school and unfortunately they would have to take their children back home. As we continued to look at the school, we began to recognize who were the students. The majority of them were kids from 8˚ Basico and 1˚ Medio. These were the kids who had wanted to take the school last week when the kids from 3˚ Medio did want to take the school. We were disappointed.

If the kids wanted to protest, they did not have to take the school. They could have gone to the center and participated in the demonstration that was taking place at the same time. Now, I am in the center while the protest is taking place. I took the metro to an internet cafe (where I am currently typing this) and I am away from the action. There are thousands of people in the street: students, professors, etc. wanted their voice and sentiments to be heard and felt. They want to let the government know they are not happy with the Chilean education system. They want to let Education Minister Lavin know education should not be private and bought, but should be made public and free. Knowledge is power, but I do not think that paros and tomas are the answer. Halting class and preventing teachers from doing their jobs is not the way to get a message across, especially if the message is they want a better education system.