Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Tome in Toma

Hey Everyone,
Thought we'd share a short post on some of the political goings-on here in Chile. Currently, most of the universities and high schools in the nation are in "paro," or on strike. The students here have been fighting for about four months with many schools shutting down, or students blockading themselves inside.


While there have been student and teacher strikes in the past, this one is the longest running strike in recent years. The students are refusing to continue school until the government changes its current education policy. Basically, students around the country are calling for the government to provide free higher education. Years and years ago, there was a socialist government that offered free education to students, and many of them are calling for such reform. At this point no one really knows how much longer it's going to take for the students and government to come to an agreement - but there are similar strikes going on in Mexico (the students there have been on strike for about 9 months now) and Argentina (students there won free education from the government after striking for 18 months) - so it looks like students might have a long road ahead of them.


Crazy how much stuff is going on down here right now in politics, what with earthquake reconstruction dissension and student protests. Pray for Chile!

Blessings,
Jordan and Missy

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