Santiago de Chile, December 19 (teleSUR-RHC)-- Thousands of Chilean teachers took to the streets on Thursday as part of a national protest over the government’s so-called “historic debt” to teachers, dating back to 1981 when the government failed to make good on a promise to increase their salaries.

“This will not cause the state to go in bankruptcy. We are demanding reparations, compensations and dignified pensions,” said Jaime Gajardo, president of the Chilean High School Teachers Union.

Gajardo added that the strike had been called following the failure of the Education Ministry to come up with a concrete proposal for how to address this debt. The protest comes in the wake of several student marches demanding changes to Chile’s education system.
  
Following Thursday’s rally, union representatives submitted a finalized list of proposals to government officials. A 2013 study by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development found that Chile spends far less as a proportion of its GDP on teacher salaries in comparison to other OECD countries.

A report from the International Monetary Fund also found that Chile’s spending on education as a whole stands at 4.2 percent of GDP, which is lower than the regional average.

Student and teacher led anti-government demonstrations have been the primary source of unrest in Chile since 2011.

President Michelle Bachelet recently proposed an education reform, which aims to provide 60 percent of low-income students free access to university.

However, her administration has also chosen to reduce the number of students eligible to receive free access to university, which sparked a wave of protests across the country.