BOGOTA — The union of maestros of Colombia began a national and indefinite strike on Wednesday to demand that the government withdraw a legislative initiative that regulates the educational system and that is close to being approved by the Congress.
This is the first indefinite protest that the Colombian Federation of Educators (Fecode) has declared since the ruling party Gustavo Petro came to power in 2022. The union is usually one of the government’s allies and on several occasions has participated in marches to defend its initiatives in Congress, however today they position themselves against the Executive.
“We are denouncing an article of the reform of the Statutory Law, where education effectively becomes a commodity without guarantees for our students. We reject the proposals of the extreme right in Colombia,” said Alexander Hurtado, a teacher from Bogotá and leader of the District Association of Educators.
Hurtado was part of the thousands of teachers who were protesting in the center of Bogotá and in the main cities of the country such as Cali, Cúcuta, Medellín and Pereira.
The discontent arose after the government reached a political agreement to make changes to the draft Statutory Education Law when it was in its third debate. The initiative was approved on June 5 by a majority and went to its last debate, after which it will have to be voted on to be approved.
The initiative seeks to regulate the fundamental right to education from preschool to university. The union believes that the law would make the model – currently with public and private participation – oriented towards the “privatization” of education, instead of making it free.
Rejection
“It is not possible that they try to give the public resources that are the product of our taxes to finance private sectors,” said Aura Nelly Daza, president of the Bogotá teachers union, who asks that the resources be allocated to the construction of public schools and to the maintenance of universities.
Teachers are also against the incorporation of students’ results in state tests as criteria in their evaluations; For the union, this “subordinates” teacher evaluation to results that do not depend exclusively on pedagogical practice, even more so, for example, in rural areas affected by violence carried out by armed groups, where there are other factors that affect grades. of the students.
The Minister of Education, Aurora Vergara, called on teachers to dialogue to establish consensus for a “better direction for education.” In statements to the press, she indicated that she is willing to open the debate to review the form of teacher evaluation and the mandatory nature of the three cycles of preschool.
“The project is not taking away the possibility of solidly financing the education system in its public version,” added the minister.
In the coming days, teachers’ assemblies in the municipalities will be added to the demonstrations in the streets. “We remain unemployed until the modification or withdrawal of the project is achieved,” concluded Daza.
Source: AP
