Abstract

Student protests marked 2011 in Chile. This movement mainly involved university and high school students whose demands focused on "the defense of public education". The demonstrations have been recognized as the most massive since the return to democracy (1990) and have had an impact on the evaluation of the first post-dictatorship right-wing government, which - headed by Sebastián Piñera - ended the year with the worst support figure for a government in 21 years. The student demand has in its favor the majority and growing approval of the Chilean population, which is explained by the segregation and social inequality produced by the educational model in Chile, which is not accompanied by an increase in the quality of education. This model originated during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, when the logic of private profit was constitutionally incorporated into public educational policy. Although there have been different waves of protest in relation to this scenario, the model has remained unchanged in its foundation. This has made the malaise increasingly notorious, both because of the increase in social inequality in a country that boasts of its economic growth, and because of the delay in eliminating the educational policy structure implemented illegitimately (in a dictatorship) and perceived as rejected by the majority of the citizenry.