Education will no longer be held hostage by teacher strikes.
On April 15th, a column I wrote was published in this same section, entitled "Education to Recover Hope for a Better Future," in which I proposed five laws to enable the government to take the initiative in addressing the educational crisis it had inherited. Today, the first of these is a reality: education has been declared an essential activity. President Javier Milei signed Decree of Necessity and Urgency 340/2025, which includes pre-school, primary, secondary, and special education as an essential service. The measure establishes the obligation to guarantee a minimum 75% of the benefits in the event of strikes or labor disputes.
As expected, the decision drew criticism from union leaders, who argue that it limits the constitutional right to strike. Therefore, it is timely to present some of the arguments justifying this courageous measure, which will change the life prospects of many children and young people, innocent victims of the union leaders' actions.
Unlike teachers' unions, children and young people cannot take action to defend their rights. To make matters worse, many parents have stopped paying attention to the level of educational services provided by schools as they have become more bureaucratic and parents have played an increasingly diminished role.
The evidence from our country conclusively demonstrates that having children in the classroom is no guarantee that they will access excellent education; but if they don't even have classes, there's no chance of that. How can we achieve something as seemingly basic as allowing children to attend school? How can we successfully confront teachers' unions that indiscriminately call for strikes, regardless of whether they violate the right to education of the children of our country? It's clear that declaring education an essential activity is essential.
It is worth remembering that the right to education is enshrined in our National Constitution, for example, implicitly in Article 14, which establishes that all inhabitants of the Nation enjoy the right to teach and learn. The Constitution also explicitly recognizes the child's right to education in Article 75, paragraph 22, by incorporating the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Who can claim that in Argentina today, Article 28 of the Convention is literally respected, stating that the right to education must be exercised under conditions of equal opportunity? Who can maintain that a young person who has attended a public school has the same opportunities to develop in the knowledge-based society in which they live as a young person who has attended a private school, based on the days of class lost due to teacher strikes?
Of course, teachers' unions have always expressed their opposition to declaring education an essential service, basing their arguments on International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions 87 and 98, to which Argentina has adhered and which have constitutional status and, therefore, superior authority over the law. In this regard, the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association has established that education is not an essential service, given that its interruption would not endanger the life, safety, or health of the population.
However, teacher strikes do pose a life-threatening risk to our children and young people. Their future lives, especially those who have the least and need the most, would be radically different if they were able to continue their education without interruption , which the State is obliged to guarantee.
Who can truly believe that school days lost due to teacher strikes are actually recovered? Of course, children from poor families are the most affected; it's impossible to ignore that.
On August 14, 2024, the Chamber of Deputies approved the bill presented by Alejandro Finocchiaro, head of the Education Committee. This bill declares education an essential strategic service and requires schools to remain open on strike days and have a minimum staff on duty to guarantee the right to education for children and adolescents. Among other points, the bill stipulates that 30% of school staff must remain at their posts during the first two days of the strike to ensure the continuity of classes. If the strike lasts more than two days, this percentage will increase to 50%.
Without a doubt, the bill's approval was a step forward, but it was insufficient to defend the right to education of children and young people attending public schools, who are largely affected by the teacher strikes.
Who can imagine that a child attending classes in a school with only 30% of teachers, in a tense environment, can develop their learning process normally? This is not enough to guarantee the right to education.
Much more appropriate, for example, was the percentage of teacher assistance required by the national government's DNU of December 2023. Article 97, paragraph f, defined education as one of the essential services and stated that: "with regard to the provision of minimum services, in the case of essential services, under no circumstances may the parties negotiate or impose coverage less than seventy-five (75%) of the normal provision of the service in question." However, as is known, the entire labor chapter was halted by the courts and, therefore, never became effective.
On March 1, 2024, in his opening speech for the regular sessions of Congress, President Javier Milei stated: “In an Argentina where children cannot read or write, we can no longer allow Baradel and his friends to use students as hostages to negotiate collective bargaining agreements with provincial governments. Therefore, we have included education as an essential service in the decree of necessity and urgency, which will take the gun out of the hands of the unions and force them to provide at least 75% of the educational service during any strike.”
Clearly, he's right. Including education among essential services represents a decision that is both necessary and urgent. It won't immediately solve all the problems of our education system, but it is a firm step in defense of those who cannot raise their voices: our children. May this first step pave the way, and there will be no turning back.
Member of the National Academy of Education and Rector of the CEMA University
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