Morelia, Michoacán - A few thousand students from the Rural Normal School [teachers college] Vasco de Quiroga, in Tiripetío, blocked the South Bypass highway of Morelia, then the highway to Pátzcuaro. Then they marched to the center of the state capital.
They are demanding that more than a thousand teaching positions be delivered to the nine normal schools in the state, and they also demonstrated to show support for the teachers of the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE) in their fight against the education reform.
MV Note: Following the Mexican Revolution and the writing of the Constitution of 1917, rural normal schools, teacher training colleges, were set up across Mexico to train youth from rural communities to become teachers who returned to their communities. Holding a position was a "right", guaranteed upon graduation, and the position could be inherited or passed on to another family member when one retired or died.
Along the way, state police tried to block the contingent and prevent the young people from seizing a bus, however, the students managed to outwit the authorities. In his first intervention in the conflict as acting governor, Jesús Reyna García said he is willing to talk with them to reach agreements as long as the media are present. Spanish original
MV Note: Reyna Garcia is substituting for Gov. Fausto Vallejo Figueroa, who this week was granted a 90-day leave of absence for unspecified health reasons.