Colombia’s Federation of University Students called on Thursday for the withdrawal of Law 30, the government’s proposal for higher educational reform.
Federation spokesman Jairo Rivera told radio station Caracol that in order to sit down and negotiate with the government, the higher education reform law must be withdrawn stating, “Our position is to engage in public dialogue and to withdraw the project.”
The spokesperson went on to say, “There are many proposals that we have defined to show that it’s necessary to withdraw the law because there is no consensus, and we don’t want to discuss the provisions of the article without discussing the objectives and how to achieve them.”
Rivera reponded to vice President Angelino Garzon who had called for dialogue, but insisted that the law as proposed by the government stays in place.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Education, Javier Botero, said that the government would not withdraw the project and that there would be several opportunites to discuss the initiative with universities.
The proposed higher education reform law is fiercely criticized by students who say the law negatively effects the quality of academic education in Colombia.
Protests against the educational reform escalated on Wednesday with the death of a protestor in Cali.