- Title: SPAIN: Spanish students march against education cuts
- Date: 6th February 2013
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (FEBRUARY 6, 2013) (REUTERS) WIDE OF DEMONSTRATION DEMONSTRATORS CHANTING IN SPANISH: "NOT A STEP BACK. GENERAL STRIKE AGAINST CUTS" CLOSE OF POLICE BOOTS/DEMONSTRATION IN BACKGROUND VARIOUS OF STUDENTS MARCHING STUDENTS CHANTING IN SPANISH: "WE ARE GOING TO WIN THIS FIGHT STUDENT HOLDING PLACARD READING: "WHY IS IT THAT MY PARENTS CAN'T PAY FOR MY PUBLIC EDUCATION?" (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PRE UNIVERSITY STUDENT, EVA AUCHIN, SAYING: "I am working in telephone sales so I can save the money to enter university next year. I wasn't able to enter university this year as my parents didn't have the money to pay for my enrolment." VARIOUS OF STUDENTS DRESSED IN BLACK REPRESENTING THE DEATH OF SPANISH EDUCATION DEMONSTRATION IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SECONDARY STUDENT, PALOMA RUIZ, SAYING: "We are the future and we have no support. They are destroying the country." DEMONSTRATION IN PROGRESS STUDENTS MARCHING AND HOLDING BANNER READING: "UNIVERSITY" MORE OF STUDENTS MARCHING STUDENTS CHANTING: "WHY DO THEY KICK US UP THE ASS IF WE ARE THE FUTURE" DEMONSTRATION IN PROGRESS YOUNG MAN WRAPPED IN FLAG FROM THE SPANISH REPUBLIC
- Embargoed: 21st February 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Spain
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Economy,Politics,Education
- Reuters ID: LVAGIPLJ11NQ7I2FCDPEUGMSL9P
- Story Text: Hundreds of school and university students marched in central Madrid on Wednesday (February 6) against cuts in Spain's education sector as a result of severe austerity measures taken by the conservative government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in order to meet deficit targets set by European Union.
"Not a step back, general strike," they chanted as they walked from Madrid's Atocha rail station to the iconic Puerta del Sol.
"We are going to win this fight," chanted another group as one of the students held a placard reading: "Why is it that my parents can't pay for public education for me?"
Eva Auchin, a secondary student who was admitted to the medicine faculty of a Spanish university this year, told Reuters Television that, as much as she was able to get a place to start studying, her parents could not afford the enrolment fee.
"I am working in telephone sales so I can save the money to enter university next year. I wasn't able to enter university this year as my parents didn't have the money to pay for my enrolment," she said.
Unions say the cuts will mean 13,000 temporary teachers joining the 6 million unemployed in Spain.
They also say the cuts will undermine the education system, which suffers from one of the highest drop-out rates in Europe with about 30 percent of school leavers aged under 16 years.
Several marchers said the cuts would prevent them from splitting up large groups and allow less time for tutoring, library and laboratory work, or to hold workshops.
Recent reforms in education have also translated into higher enrolment fees.
"We are the future and we have no support. They are destroying the country," said Paloma Ruiz who will be applying for university next year.
Sixty percent of people under the age of 25 in Spain are unemployed, according to recent data from Spain's National Institute of Statistics.
Young Spaniards, who have been dubbed 'generacion cero' or 'the ni-nis' - neither in work nor full time education are now living in the family home longer than ever before, pushing the average age of independence from their parents to well into their thirties.
Europeans have taken to the streets in several member countries of the 17-nation euro currency union as their governments cut spending on pensions, health and education to rein in a debt crisis which threatens to engulf the region. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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