2011 Colombian student protests
The 2011 student protests in Columbia consisted of a series of demonstrations led by students, some teachers, university employees, and unions, starting on October 12th. These demonstrations took place throughout the Columbian territory in protest against the draft of the Higher Education Reform Project presented by the National Government to the Congress of the Republic in October of 2011. Student leader Jairo Rivera have claimed that Colombian education is drifting toward ""the Chilean model"" something he warned against and said that ""the Chilean model is the one to "not" follow"". 2011 Colombian student protest and 2011  Chilean student protests leaders have announced a joint bi-national student protest for November 24 of 2011. Chilean newspaper "The Clinic" have pointed out that these two student protests have in common that they broke out in the only two South American countries ruled by right-wing presidents. Causes and antecedents. Proposal for the reform of higher education. The Higher Education Reform Project presented by the government of Juan Manuel Santos and his Minister of Education, María Fernanda Campo, aimed to modify Law 30 of 1992, which regulates higher education in Columbia. The draft was presented for the first time  in front of the deans of some universities  on March 10th, 2011, and in the following months it circulated throughout the community of universities. The proposal included various points that didn’t sit well with the teachers’  union who alleged that the reform didn’t guarantee the right to an education, since it didn’t offer universities the resources necessary to operate. For-Profit Universities. 3,606,532 high school graduates in Columbia were not admitted into college between 2001 and 2010. To solve this problem, the reform proposal considered the creation of for-profit universities. This was the aspect of the  proposal that caused the most upset among the community of universities. They argued that, while the enrollment numbers have increased in countries where this model was implemented, like Brazil, the collateral effect has been a severe diminution of the quality of the institutions. Faced with the proposal of for-profit universities, the student movement began the organization of multiple demonstrations on the national territory. Among these was the massive march of April 7th. These initial demonstrations led to the government’s discontinued interest in creating for-profit universities on August 23rd, however the proposal for reform continued provoking rejection from  the community of universities. Educational Credits. The draft of the law considered a major investment in student loans through the Columbian Institute of Student Loans and Technical Studies Abroad. These loans would be paid by the beneficiaries once they finish their studies and enter the workforce, with the possibility of debt forgiveness for outstanding grades. This aspect of the proposal was criticized by the community of universities, considering it was detrimental to public education and only favored the private universities who receive the students with loans. In addition, the reform permitted coercive collection in order to guarantee debt payment acquired  by the students. Other Contested Issues. The draft for the reform of higher education also aimed to: The March of April 7th. On April 7th, 2011 the first large protest of unions, teachers, and students took place during the governance of Juan Manuel Santos; during which they demanded better salaries for teachers, pensioners, and employees, as well as improvements in labor and trade union rights. They also rejected the reform of higher education presented by the government, the National Plan of Development from 2010-2014, the privatization of the Telecommunications Company of Bogotá, the Initial Employment Law , the fiscal sustainability , Law 100 of 1993, and the Free Trade Agreements. The marches developed over a large part of the national territory and more than one hundred organizations participated: all of the public universities, some private universities, the Trade Union Association of University Professors, some public and private high schools, the World Organization of Students (WOS), the Columbian Student Organization, the Federation of University Students, the Association of Columbian University Students, the National Student Identity Process, the Red Revolt, the National University Federation, the Student Union (Six Columbia), the Red Independents, the Collective Critical Thought, and a number of student groups, in  addition to the Central Workers Union, the Columbian Federation of Educators, the Workers Union of the Telecommunications Company of Bogotá (SINTRATELÉFONOS), and the workers of the Aqueduct and Sewer Company of Bogotá, among others. The marches developed across the country and more than one hundred organisations participated including: Development. National University Strike. Despite opposition presented from the beginning towards the Higher Education Reform Project, it was ratified by the before the on October 3rd, 2011. From there most of the Higher Education Institutions began to organize committees in which they made decisions regarding how to demonstrate their opposition to the  article Despite opposition presented from the beginning towards the Higher Education Reform Project, it was ratified by the National Government before the Congress of the Republic on October 3rd, 2011. From there most of the Higher Education Institutions began to organize committees in which they made decisions regarding how to demonstrate their opposition to the article. The National Strike, as a mechanism of student action, had an initial organization process at the national level that began in the month of September, assembling a significant number of universities. It also worked with international consultants. As of October 12, 32 public universities  then declared an and asserted that it would not end until the Reform Project was repealed by Congress and were offered guarantees for a democratic design of a new project. On numerous occasions national against the reform took place on April 7th,​ September 7th, October 7th,​  October 12th, October 26th and also included the March of Torches on November 3rd,  Taking Bogotá on November 10th,​ and the Continental Day of Mobilization for Education on November 24th. In the march of October 12th, 2011, medical student at the Universidad Santiago de Cali, Jan Farid Cheng Lugo, died from the launch of  an explosive device by unidentified people (the facts are confidential) during the strike convened by la Mesa Amplia Nacional de Estudiantes. La Mesa Amplia Nacional Estudiantil (MANE) reported that the death of the young man was not an accident but a murder resulting from a device thrown by unknown people from a bridge. This version was confirmed by forensic analysis that established murder as the motive behind the death; the details are still being clarified. Consequences. On November 9th, 2011, one day before one of the largest marches of 2011 took place in Bogotá called Toma a Bogotá (Taking Bogotá ), after a meeting with congressmen from both chambers of the of Congress of the Republic, President Juan Manuel Santos announced that the government would be willing to repeal through constitutional procedure the Higher Education Reform Project, only if the students returned to academic normalcy. Nevertheless, the students, represented by la Mesa Amplia Nacional Estudiantil (MANE), expressed they would continue with cessation of academic activities and with scheduled protests until the government effectively repealed the proposal from Congress and guaranteed an arrangement for the design of a more democratic proposal, that included the requests and need of the entire educational community,​  and that allowed the protest scheduled for Thursday, November 10th to remain scheduled November 11th gave way to what is considered as the first victory of the 2011 student protests, when president agreed to the demands of the students and ratified in the the request to repeal the Higher Education Reform project. On November 16th, the sixth commission of the approved - with 11 votes in favor and none against - the request to repeal the reform. As a consequence of the measures on the part of the government, the students decided to end the National University Strike that lasted little more  than a month. The government committed itself to creating democratic spaces for the design of a new higher education reform that responded to the demands of the university community and the rest of the country. The students, on their side, committed to participating in such spaces for dialogue and designing a new reform. Since there didn’t exist word-for-word guarantees of the government’s compromise, the students declared, nevertheless, they would remain alert to any breaches in the agreement. A few months after these agreements, then Minister of Education María Fernanda Campo claimed that the National Council for  Higher Education (CESU, the advisory state agency presided over by the minister, would be the only platform for designing a new higher education law, which was interpreted by the student movement as a breach of what was agreed on since they considered they were not guaranteed to participate in the CESU. As a result, the students organized under MANE began the design of a Proposal for an Alternative Higher Education Law through multiple meetings in different cities. For its part, the national government, by means of the CESU, undertook the design of Public Policy of Higher Education. In 2014, it  presented to the country a document named Acuerdo por lo Superior 2034, that contains guidelines for the sector between 2014 and 2034. Given the design of these guidelines, contrary to what had been agreed on to lift the 2011 strike, the contributions of the student organizations were once again left out. MANE has posed the possibility of a new protest. Likewise, the government document has received criticism on different occasions, like Ignacio Mantilla, Rector of la Universidad Nacional; the Congress of the Republic by means of senator Jorge Enrique Robledo, and ; House Representatives and , and Andean Constituent for the Republic  of Colombia Alexander Ferms, in terms of international representation.