In recent weeks, the demands in defense of public education in Argentina were noted through the media and social networks. Since the government of said country has chosen to cut the budget for public universities, triggering a series of limitations such as putting the operation and maintenance of infrastructure at risk, affecting the teaching and administrative staff, and consequently thousands of students.
These demands have been expressed through demonstrations in the main streets of the city of Buenos Aires, but the only thing they have received in response is criticism from the country's president, who defines and places the debate on free education as an ideological and partisan issue. The above has aroused greater discontent among students, since if the budget designated for higher education is not granted, it will be unviable.
The streets were filled with signs raised with quotes like: “If the university is empty, what do we fill the future with?” Because clearly this conflict over free education shows the failure to comply with one of the main Sustainable Development Goals: Quality education. This objective proposes to guarantee inclusive, equitable and quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. However, it is evident that this economic crisis is obstructing Argentine and foreign students who chose the country as their educational home, from fully receiving the right to quality education and complicating their academic objectives.
The alarming thing about this situation is that regionally, the majority of Latin American countries are facing this type of crisis, where education is harmed, although this should be one of the fundamental pillars. In fact, El Salvador is another country that is currently going through a similar problem, since the budget designated for the only public university in the country has not been delivered, being an alarming situation, since in the future this will mainly affect the students.
Furthermore, different studies such as the one carried out by the Inter-American Development Bank Education Division, point out in the latest report on the state of education in Latin America, that educational development presents a high heterogeneity among the countries of the region, and clearly There is a high lag with respect to the most developed countries.
Of course educational development. Better technologies and adequate financing are some of the resources that first world countries are fortunate to use to their advantage. Therefore, Latin America must consider concrete measures to guarantee that every student has access to an education that helps them train as a comprehensive professional.
For the moment, Argentina continues to fight in defense of its demands, since many students have been able to continue with their educational process thanks to higher education being free. Ultimately, the students hope that this critical situation will have a prompt solution, since if there is no access to this quality education, it would result in a delay in sustainable development. Because education is the only tool that develops the abilities of individuals, enhances their opportunities and is a right that one is not willing to give up.