University presidents, students, and members of parliament are seeking common ground on strengthening public education.

25/09/2012
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  • University presidents, students, and members of parliament are seeking common ground on strengthening public education.
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In the context of the debate on the 2013 Budget Law, these actors held a meeting to reach a consensus on their positions.

«"We want quality public education to be available to all Chileans," said CRUCH Executive Vice President Juan Manuel Zolezzi.

At the request of Congressman Carlos Montes, a member of the Joint Budget Committee, a meeting was held with the executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), Juan Manuel Zolezzi, and student leaders, such as Gabriel Boric, Camila Vallejos, and Noam Titelman, among others, in order to bring positions closer together regarding the budget discussion for 2013, where the central focus that unites the three entities is the strengthening of Public Education.

“We agree on making an effort to advance the strengthening of public education, both in higher education and in secondary education, which is becoming very critical. We want quality public education to be available to all Chileans, which is why we will propose that there must be an increase in the coverage provided by the Council's institutions, and for that, there must be resources allocated to supply, and not just demand, because we do not want the CRUCH universities to disappear from this country, as we consider them extraordinarily necessary,” stated Rector Zolezzi.

The three entities' discussions converged on the fact that the survival of public education is at stake in this budget, making a genuine revitalization of the system urgent. "We believe that society must strengthen public universities and the universities belonging to the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), and we cannot allow different institutions to compete against each other as if they were all the same. We need the core funding to be substantial and significant enough to allow these universities to grow," stated Congressman Carlos Montes after the meeting.

In the coming days they will continue talking in order to present a joint position and develop common lines of action, which revolve around changing the logic of financing education, aiming to end demand-side financing and move to one that goes directly to institutions at all levels of education.