Chilean gov't begins dialogue with opposition on education crisis

Chile's Education Minister Felipe Bulnes met with opposition congress members in the central city of Valparaiso Wednesday to deal with students' demands for educational reform.They discussed possible education reforms to meet the demands of students, who had started protesting six months ago. The Chilean opposition in the Congress rejected the education fund contained in the 2012 budget, saying it was not enough to resolve the actual crisis in the education sector. Bulnes called for a meeting with the opposition congress members after they addressed a new proposal to resolve the crisis, which included a large amount of funds to finance the sector and increase the number of scholarships. Yet students were still dissatisfied, especially the ones from middle schools, saying the proposal only covered the university sector. University students agreed that the government wasn't going far enough. Spokesman of the university students Giorgio Jackson was skeptical about the meeting, saying that only after six months of protests was the government willing to engage in a dialogue with the opposition. The Chilean student protests have been the largest ones in this country in the last 20 years. The students have called for new protests on Nov. 18 and 19.