Dump Colombia education reforms, thousands demand

Tens of thousands of students skipped classes to chant, march and dance down the streets of the capital Thursday, paralyzing the city in an ongoing struggle over the future of higher education.

The protests which also brought out labor unions, professors and high school students have emerged as one of the most stubborn problems in the 15-month administration of President Juan Manuel Santos, and echo similar marches in Chile.

After months of insisting that the government would not allow education reform to be held hostage by protests, Santos on Wednesday offered to kill the reform bill if students would return to class. 

But organizers say the government must back down first.

"It's only thanks to the marches and the national strike that the government agreed to withdraw the bill at all," said Andres Rincon, a spokesman for the national student coalition behind the protests. "

That shows that we were right all along. ... 

But we want them to withdraw the bill without any preconditions."

Santos said the marchers are putting more than 550,000 public university students at risk of missing the semester, and said they had no reason to keep protesting.

"The entire country is a witness to our promise," Santos said Thursday. "

Now we are asking the students to stop the marches and don't defraud the country. 

Lift the protest and go back to class. 

Save the semester."

The government says the reforms, known as Law 30, would strengthen the university system by adding $3.5 billion for higher education over the next decade, boosting enrollment by 600,000 and offering scholarships to top students.

Teacher and student organizations, however, say the government's plan is unrealistic, and would leave already cash-strapped universities in even worse shape as they try to absorb the additional students.