Ei-iE

On Thursday 27 March, Colombia’s education workers’ federation, FECODE, and university teachers’ union, ASPU – both Education International Latin America (EILA) affiliates –took part in the For Public Education! More Funding Forum. The event took place within the framework of Education International’s Go Public! campaign.

On Thursday 27 March, Colombia’s education workers’ federation, FECODE, and university teachers’ union, ASPU – both Education International Latin America (EILA) affiliates – took part in the For Public Education! More Funding Forum. The event took place within the framework of Education International’s Go Public! campaign.

For Public Education! More Funding Forum

Domingo Ayala Espitia, president of FECODE and a member of the Education International (EI) Executive Board, gave an opening message at the start of the forum and highlighted FECODE’s long history of fighting to defend the right to education in Colombia. “Consolidating this right has not been easy and, today, being at the side of the government of change represents a huge responsibility in terms of confronting the phenomenon of neoliberalism that wants to strip away rights, that wants to turn public education into a business,” said Ayala.

Isabel Ayala, a member of FECODE’s Executive Committee and EILA vice president for the Andean Zone, reflected on the urgent need to put investment in education before the payment of crippling foreign debts. “It is vital that funding for public education is recognised as imperative, it is not just a matter of allocating economic resources but of understanding that all investment in education is an investment in our collective future; public education must be seen as a common good that not only fosters individual development but also the social and economic progress of our nations,” said Ayala, who also highlighted the gains secured during the government of change led by Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez in the defence of public education.

FECODE has fought for the Constitutional Reform of the General Participation System, through the amendment of Articles 356 and 357 of the Colombian Political Constitution, to guarantee the financing of education, health, basic sanitation and drinking water, as well as real and progressive growth in resources to close six structural gaps.

For Colombian public education!

Pedro Hernández, national president of ASPU, gave a detailed presentation on the situation regarding higher education funding in Colombia. “Today 60% of students benefit from zero tuition fees, and it is the national government that has to fund this, from the National General Budget. It transfers funds to universities to cover what they stopped receiving due to zero tuition fees, but look at the 169% growth from 2006 to 2022 while the budget only grew by 52%. Then, we have a structural budget crisis. The rectors say the structural issue is because they haven’t been given enough money to continue building classrooms, laboratories, etcetera. They focus heavily on that, but we focus on having decent conditions to cater for our students, and decent conditions include good salaries for teachers, to put an end to the high level of precariousness,” said Hernández.

Gabriela Bonilla, EILA’s regional director, gave a presentation on the UN Recommendations on the Teaching Profession, and explained how education unions can put this tool to good use in their struggle for more education funding. “Quality education is not possible without adequate funding and they [the recommendations] set the floor at 6% of GDP or 20% of public spending. And, as recommendation 7 very crucially states, and as President Petro has also argued, investment in education must not be included in austerity packages, it must not be included in the World Bank’s and the IMF’s demands for cuts,” insisted Bonilla.

The forum was also attended by Angelo Gavrielatos, director of the Go Public! campaign, and José Olivera, vice president of Uruguay’s secondary teachers’ federation FeNaPES and member of the EILA Regional Committee. “Go Public! is an urgent and essential call for governments, together with intergovernmental organisations and International Financial Institutions, to invest in teachers and public education,” said Gavrielatos. José Olivera shared the experience of his federation, EILA affiliate FeNaPES, in the struggle for more funding for public education.