High school students from the city of Buenos Aires marched this Tuesday afternoon to the Buenos Aires government headquarters under the slogan “Student unit in defense of public education”, while five schools continued to be taken over by various claims, within the framework of a day of teacher union strike Ademys and the Union of Education Workers (UTE) in the district in rejection of the “persecution” and “harassment” of the educational community.
The mobilization started at 16 from the school Mariano Acostalocated in Urquiza 277, where the takings began to demand food of nutritional quality, solutions to infrastructure problems and against the mandatory and unpaid work internships.
Among the demands were “Down with the persecution of (Horacio Rodríguez) Larreta and (Soledad) Acuña against the educational community” and “More budget for education.”
“Our education is not for sale” was the slogan of the poster carried by the column that led the mobilization.
Celeste, delegate of the Liceo 12 Fray Mamerto Esquiú Student Center, stated in an interview with Télam that “It is necessary that the Buenos Aires government listen to the studentsbecause we are the ones who suffer from the situation”.
Among the claims are the cessation of the Approach Activities (ACAP)improvements in building conditions and in the quality of food received by educational establishments.
In relation to the problem of the infrastructure of the buildings, he highlighted that “There are problems with electricity, walls are falling down, bathrooms are leaking, and ventilation is poor.”
Regarding the food, he indicated that “the food is disgusting” and remarked: “Nobody in their right mind can believe that a berreta shoulder sandwich can be a healthy food.”
“I’m not fighting just for myself and my classmates, but because my younger sister will also come to school and I don’t want her to suffer what I suffer every day,” he stressed.
The students participated in the march with flags, banners and drums, and the most heard song was “Acuña, Larreta, the school is not for sale.”
Some of the slogans present in the mobilization were “Eat the food you Acuña”, “Healthy food for students”“Acuña, Larreta, enough of berreta internships”, and “Dignified food for all”.
The establishments that still taken by their students are the Rogelio Yrurtia Higher School of Artistic Education in Visual Arts, the Rodolfo Walsh school and the Manuel Belgrano school, the Normal Superior in Living Languages Sofía Esther Broquen de Spangenberg, known as Lengüitas, and the Technical School N°6 Fernando Fader, from the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Flores.
The students of Lengüitas they had raised the intake in the morning, when they entered an intermediate room, but decided to keep it after a subsequent meeting with the Buenos Aires Ministry of Education, which did not yield results. The same thing happened with the Fader.
The Minister of Education, Soledad Acuña, through a letter, assured that “after the untimely seizure” of Lengüitas, tomorrow classes will be held at the initial and primary levels at the school’s headquarters -since it has an independent entrance to the secondary level – and that the students of this cycle will be able to attend classes at the Unicaba headquarters, Paseo Colón 255.
Fiona Leotta, vice president of the Student Center of the National College of Buenos Aires, which depends on the UBA, affirmed that they are “supporting the fight of the companions of the Buenos Aires schools because it cannot be that the Government of the City ignores our claims “.
He pointed out that from the Coordinator of Base Students (CEB) they seek a meeting with Minister Acuña, so that “the proposals of the students reach the ears” of the official.
In relation to the intention of the Buenos Aires government to collect fines from the parents of the students who participate in the takeovers of the schools, he stated that “it is a response from an authoritarian government that does not know how to listen to the claims, not only of the students, but nobody in general.”
Julia, from the Student Center of Normal Superior number 8, President Julio Argentino Roca, criticized the food and stated that “they are inedible. The bread is so hard that you can use it as a hammer.”
About the ACAP, he said: “Our school has a social orientation and the kids are sent to work for free for a consultant that has nothing to do with what they study.”
Tomás, a student at Juan Martin de Pueyrredón, in the San Telmo neighborhood, pointed out that the school has “problems with the infrastructure and especially with food” and said that “they have given us food full of mushrooms.”
“Our school has an orientation in Natural Sciences and they send us to do internships at a gastronomic institute. What does that have to do with what we study?”, he questioned.
Brisa Hunglinger, gender counselor of the Mariano Acosta School Student Center, pointed out the attempt to collect a fine for alleged violations from parents, and said that it aims to “break the student movement in a claim that is fair and necessary.”
And he added that “despite that, the student movement is stronger than ever and we will not stop until they listen to us and solve our problems.”
Kianara Ledo, from the Mariano Acosta Student Center, criticized the role of some media: “They diverted the axis of the problem. Many who do not know the underlying problem spoke about how we dress and not about our claim.”
The Escuela Normal Superior nº 9 Domingo F. Sarmiento; the Normal 8; the Julio Cortázar Middle School; the Nini Marshall Theater School; the National College 17 First Board; the School of Ceramics 1; the Technical School No. 15 Maipú, and the Juan Pedro Esnaola School of Music.
Also, the National College of Buenos Aires and the Carlos Pellegrini Commercial College, among other Buenos Aires educational institutions.
Meanwhile, tomorrow, students from more than 10 Buenos Aires schools will gather from 10 o’clock at the door of the Buenos Aires Ministry of Education to demand that Acuña receive them and listen to their demands.
“Several schools will be demanding that Acuña receive us and listen to our claims,” Valentina, a member of the Rogelio Yrurtia School of Artistic Education in Visual Arts Student Center, told Télam.
He pointed out that the students will stay “all day” and if they are not received by the Buenos Aires official, they will evaluate what “measures they will take”, although he did not rule out returning to the school shots.
