Algebra, software engineering, psychology, economics, statistics — on Tuesday, more than 100 university professors gave their lessons outdoors in Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires. The protest outside the Casa Rosada was part of a nationwide 48-hour nationwide strike against President Javier Milei’s government.

Teacher and student demonstrators were demanding salaries that keep up with inflation, following steep budget cuts that have greatly harmed their purchasing power.

Placards announcing the names of the classes being taught were dotted all over Plaza de Mayo. “Probability and Statistics, 4 p.m.,” said a handwritten poster plastered on a tree. A whiteboard announced a “Teaching Economics to Milei” class at 3 p.m.

“Most teachers earn a salary below the poverty line, and this has repercussions on very concrete issues — teachers are leaving the national universities to seek other opportunities, and this degrades the excellent education level,” said Martín Mansilla, an adjunct professor in Analysis I, from the Buenos Aires University’s mathematics department.

“What he is ultimately doing is bleeding out public universities........

© Buenos Aires Herald