Bogota, April 08: In Colombia, hundreds of thousands of university students and staff members have staged mass demonstrations against a government plan to privatize public education.
Colombian university students and staff members along with trade unionists took to the streets of major cities in the South American state on Thursday to express opposition to university reforms set forth by a government bill that could allow privatization of public schools, reports indicate.
According to Colombia’s main trade union federation, the CUT, 1.5 million people participated in the nationwide protests, the largest since Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos took office back in August.
Apart from some reports of violence in the capital Bogota and the city of Pereira, the demonstrations were peaceful.
The massive nationwide demonstrations are against government plans to introduce private funding to the public university system.
Meanwhile, trade unions are asking the government to take measures in order to reduce the country’s unemployment and to protect the rights of union activists as well.
——–Agencies