ABSTRACT
The Chilean public education system has been the source of countless social and political movements since the return to democracy. These movements, mostly led by secondary students, have constantly sought to highlight the inequities of an education system based on neoliberal economic models, which has led to increasing segregation and discrimination on the basis of social, economic, and cultural origin. This has left students from poorer and more vulnerable sectors, along with the middle class, facing a mediocre and inefficient public education that perpetuates social gaps, replicating in some ways a colonial system that favors the rich white man. Our purpose in this writing is to make known at both a historical and socio-political level the implications of the main milestones of student protest that have occurred in the last 40 years in Chile and how it has been secondary students who have led the practices against an oppressive neoliberal system. From the return to democracy in Chile, and understanding the meaning of public school education, to the latest protests in October 2019 and the boycott of the 2020 university selection test, we intend to show how government after government has failed to implement public education policies that promote quality and equality in a system that has a historical segregated origin. Today, it is the students of secondary schools who embody this resistance and practice so desired, raising their voices not only for a more just education but also for profound and cultural changes in a Chilean society that already says enough is enough. To them, our gratitude.
