Public Education Threats in Argentina

Written 3/20/17

The UTE, Union de Trabajadores de le Educación, which means Education Worker’s Union, and the Confederación de Trabajadores de la Educación de la República Argentina (CTERA), Workers Confederation of Education of the Argentine Republic, have started a national strike. This has created a stop in public education, to which most schools have adhered. The protesters claim their salaries are not high enough, and so will not return to work until their salaries rise according to inflation. School lessons should have started on March 6th, but have now been delayed indefinitely. Marches took place in Buenos Aires, but the protest affects the whole country (excluding only three provinces).

There does not seem to be a clear solution to the problem. Teachers won't cease to protest until they get what they want, and those who work for the state claim there is no money available to give them what they want. Those who are against the stop, including most public servants, claim it is a movement that is against the children’s rights, who are being deprived of education, and hence being the most affected group of the whole problem. Argentina is affiliated to some international treatments, including the Convention of the Rights of the Child, which includes an obvious agreement on their right towards education, this meaning that the teacher’s strike is against this treatment. Many consider it is not an admirable way to reach their goals because it harms a tertiary group, the students, who deserve and need education.

President Macri believes the stop in education is clearly linked to politics, being directed directly to him and his team of workers instead of those in charge of public education affairs in each province, or trying to fix the problem through a different mechanism that does not affect students. “I am sorry that many have chosen opportunism through the strick. We have tried to solve things through stops for decades, and what has been the result? Zero. Nothing improved. We’ve gotten worst.” the president sustained. On the other hand, those supporting the strike, like Sonia Alesso, a general secretary of CTERA claimed “This march generates emotion. This is a historic lesson: we do not bend over and we are not afraid".

The government is not sitting still. On March 6th they started the papers to apply fines for unions, and even to remove legal states to unions which have participated on the strike that is delaying the beginning of the school year. They have made clear that they will not give the teachers what they are asking for, claiming that there isn’t government budget funds to give away.

Teachers won’t stop the strike, and the government will not rise their salaries. All we can confirm for now is that the group being most badly affected are the children who are losing irreplaceable time of education. The two opposing forces are having a hard time finding an agreement which pleases both, but it is crucial that they work this out in order for classes to start and hence contribute to the well-being of children in the country.