Month: July 2016

Students who claim by high tariffs and the implementation of academic and administrative measures, have been this week the reason of great unrest, rows and stops at several universities in the country.While at the Santiago de Cali University students protesting for three days by the resignation of the members of the Superior Council of the University and call for a Truth Commission that would be responsible to investigate the economic situation of the Centre of superior studies, in the Bogota national, a group of masked men starred in this Wednesday a protest by more than two hours that caused the closure of two Transmilenio stations and an important stretch of the carrera 30, North-South direction. Covering their clothes and shoes with garbage bags, to avoid being identified, and wearing balaclavas, gloves and dark glasses, demonstrators began from early hours of the morning meeting on the University campus. Were the Che Guevara square, in the heart of the alma mater, admonished against 230 security cameras installed and the vigilanets in the educational institution.All the repression, decomposition, shock, signs, are to silence students, and be able to fairs the University which auction public, to the best bidders, pointed out one of the press releases disseminated by the masked men.For its part, Moises Wasserman, rector of the national, ensures that you don’t see in the higher education reform project an attempt to privatize the public University and that, ultimately, the great fear should not be the privatization of universities but of the educational quality. (see page 38).The situation at the Universidad Santiago de Cali is also critical. In addition to the protests of students, and of disorders caused by a group of masked men who burned multiple files block of professors in the Office of the Disciplinary Tribunal, the directives confirmed that there are no resources to pay for the last fortnight to teachers of the institution. Although they have pointed out that the University is in a financial improvement plan, several teachers and students are planning a general Assembly to analyze the possible work stoppage. The protesters say they will not lifted the blockade because there is no guarantee for students, and many of them have been physically assaulted.Cases of Cali and Bogota joined also the of the University of Caldas, where a large number of students and teachers decided to interrupt the schedule of classes to protest decisions of the directives of the educational center.A problem that started in August last year, when the High Council met to rethink the enrollment table. After four months of discussions and analysis, the decision to change the requirements to students to calculate the payment of tuition, measure affecting 70% who were formerly exempt from paying.The proposal, approved by the Council, do not fell very well among the students, who were organized in a move to protest and ask for the repeal of the visit of the Deputy Minister of education, Javier Botero, medidTras campus to dialogue with different sectors of the University, was raised not to affect strata 1 and 2 of the Sisben with measures and continue subsidizing these students.On Friday carried out another meeting between the directives and the students, hoping to make progress in the discussion and avoid that the University remains locked..