Colombian Students March for Improved Public Education

On October 10, several Colombian cities held the National March in Defense of Higher Education to demand solutions to the funding crisis in public education. The protest amassed over 5000 people in Cali and 40,000 people in Bogotá, and marks the beginning of a ten-day demonstration before the 2019 national budget passes to Congress.

The protest comes after Senate President Ernesto Macías silenced student Jennifer Pedraza’s microphone in the middle of her speech, as she spoke about the lack of resources and failing infrastructure at her alma mater. The move sparked widespread indignation and condemnation from many current and former politicians.

At the march, students, professors, and university directors will demand higher budgets and greater transparency in government. Public universities are currently running a deficit of COP$1.4 trillion in operations and COP$15 trillion in infrastructure.

The 2019 Colombian budget plan partially addresses this issue: $33.6 billion has been allocated to education, an increase from previous years. However, only 10% of that sum is slated to go to public education.

Data has shown that the number of students enrolled in Colombia’s 32 public universities has been steadily increasing —a growth of 284% between 1993 and 2016. A simultaneous cut in the budget, however,  has also been increasing annually. Pedro Hernández, president of the Union of University Professors (ASPU), has expressed his frustration with the problem: “in 2004, 53% of total higher education spending was allocated to finance public universities; in 2017 it was only 37%.”

According to analysts, this lack of investment limits access by forcing public universities to increase their enrollment fees—50,000 Colombian students have already reported that they cannot pay their university student loans.

Citing these reasons and in solidarity with the protests, public universities have gone on strike on October 11. The Colombian Student Movement released a statement the same day: “Education is the fundamental tool to settle the abysmal social, moral and intellectual inequality of the nation”.

Education Minister María Victoria Angulo has so far remained silent about the marches. Press officers for the Colombian government have stated that the 2019 budget portfolio will not be revealed before October 20, when Congress is set to approve it.