Educational crisis in Buenos Aires
10/09/2010BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Students in Buenos Aires occupied at least 24 public high schools between August and September demanding better classroom conditions.
Out-of-order bathrooms, classrooms that are inadequate for learning and buildings and facilities with structural problems make studying a challenging experience, said Federico, a 16 year-old junior who attends the high school Escuela Normal Superior 7 in Buenos Aires, where about 50 students are occupying the school’s facilities.
“We decided to take over the school because we cannot go on studying like this,” said Federico, who asked not to use his last name out of fear of retaliation by education officials. “This building is uncomfortable for the 1,500 students who come here every day. The bathrooms collapsed, the dividing walls are precarious, there is only one emergency exit and the elevators do not work.”
The students’ protest is the most significant held since the mayor of Buenos Aires, Mauricio Macri, came into office in 2007 representing the Republican Proposal (PRO).
“We are faced with an under-fulfillment of the budget for education at a time when the government has collected more money than was expected,” said Sergio Abrevaya, a Buenos Aires legislator representing the Civic Coalition party. “There are no answers for the students, who still have cracked ceilings.”
The students’ measures have also gained the support of teachers’ associations, which say the Buenos Aires City Government must allocate more resources for education.
“There is tremendous inefficiency throughout the city’s entire educational system,” said María Susana Colli, curriculum secretary of the Ademys Teachers Association, a union that serves high school teachers in the city and province of Buenos Aires. “The budget is very low, and what is worse, there is a pretense of dialogue. It is known that they threaten us, they persecute us, and they do not let us work in peace. All they achieve with this is that the students get better organized and are ready to fight.”
Esteban Bullrich, minister of education for Buenos Aires, stood before the City Legislature to report on the city government’s position Aug. 31.
In a six-hour session, with the participation of students and teachers, the minister addressed issues regarding the conditions of the educational centers and responded to accusations of the so-called “black lists,” a mechanism the authorities are alleged to have implemented to single out the students who lead the occupation of buildings, according to the Argentine daily Clarín.
“There were 300 schools without heat and today they are all heated, 35 have heating fans and they are going to have gas heaters by 2011,” said Bullrich, according to the Argentine website Minutouno.com.ar. “We expect to have an electrical plan, since many schools have cloth covered wiring, which went out of use 30 years ago.”
Bullrich said that in 2010 “$308 million pesos (US$78 million) [were invested] for construction and school maintenance” and that the current government has inherited buildings in very bad conditions from previous administrations, according to Clarín.
The minister denied authorities have ever created a black list.
“We don’t persecute anyone because of the way he thinks,” said Bullrich, according to Clarín.
The federal government supports the students’ measures.
“There are rebellious students here who are defending the public good,” Carlos Tomada, Argentina’s minister of labor, said recently during a public meeting in Buenos Aires, according to the Argentine daily Página/12. “Those are the youth who gave meaning to Peronism.”
Students say they will stop occupying the buildings when they get a response from the city government.
“All we want is to be able to go back to school in decent conditions,” said Pablo, a 17- year-old student at the Escuela Normal Superior 7 who requested his last name not be published. “For now, the occupation will go on indefinitely.”