COLOMBIA: Students resist liberalisation plans

University students across Colombia are planning a large protest next week over their government's plans to reform the country's higher education sector and allow universities to become for-profit institutions.

The proposals seek to expand Colombian high education by 608,000 places to get more than 2.2 million young people studying in tertiary programmes by 2014, up from the current 1.67 million, and to achieve 50% enrolment of undergraduate-age Colombians.

It also seeks to leverage an additional COL$2.4 billion ($1.26 million) of new resources into the higher education sector over the next three years.

Colombia's new president, Juan Manuel Santos, released the plans on 11 March as an amendment to the country's 1992 Law 30 of Education.

In a speech in the capital Bogotá, he outlined four main goals for the Higher Education Reform Project: boosting quality, resources, relevancy and transparency. In particular, his government wants to increase the global relevance of Colombia's higher education system and make it more competitive internationally, and to increase institutional transparency and good governance.

The aim is that more young Colombians will take part in higher education, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, while bringing education in line with global trends and new technology.

Santos said: "We will promote the internationalisation of the curriculum and the quality of our system, so that our professionals may have doors open to them in many other countries."

Despite these assurances, the proposal has been slammed by students.

Students, who have already staged small campus protests, are planning a large rally on 7 April in opposition to the reform. It will be preceded by a large symposium on 5 and 6 April, in Bogotá, which will bring together national and international speakers to discuss the reform proposals and offer up parallel examples from other countries.

Andres Alvarez, a spokesperson for the Colombia University Students Association, said: "To change the university into a space for profit isn't really about education but primarily about private gain."

Sergio Fernandez, a representative of the National University Student Council, echoes that, saying: "One has to ask, will this reform actually favour displaced communities or will it mainly favour the financial sector?"

The draft proposal is currently open to public debate. Throughout March a series of regional forums was held in Tunja, Manizales, Medellin, Pereira, Bucaramanga and Baranquilla, in which Colombian students, professors and citizens were able to discuss the reform proposal and voice concerns, questions, and suggestions. There were also workshops that took place around the country and an online forum where people were able to discuss issues.

"Public education, if it wants to be competitive, cannot deny itself the possibility of private investment. And that, to be clear, does not mean privatisation," said Santos.

Aware of the opposition to forging more ties with the private sector and allowing institutions to become for-profit, Santos explained his reasons for tabling the proposals: "Higher education institutions were required to be non-profit, which has limited the opportunities for private investment in them. We therefore propose to create higher education institutions for-profit."

Of the new COL$2.4 billion, COL$774 million is earmarked for loans and subsidies.