At least 200 students protested Thursday night in Mexico City to demand that President López Obrador fulfill a campaign promise to abolish university entrance exams.

The protesters were members of at least three different groups of students who have been rejected by schools of higher education.

They demanded in a statement that the federal government find a solution for more than 250,000 young people who have been turned away.

“Since before his election campaign, the current president promised that his government would improve education, and that it would even eliminate university entrance exams,” read the statement. “However, today, we are facing indifference from functionaries who are refusing to negotiate with the students.”

The statement also said that government initiatives like the Benito Juárez García schools, the Rosario Castellanos Higher Education Institute and the Zero Rejects program, which will open up 51,000 spots for students in technological and private universities in Mexico City, México state, Hidalgo and Morelos, are insufficient to address the problem.

“Those schools might be a good option for some people, but they don’t cover the huge demand of more than 250,000 young people who want to get a higher education,” the statement reads. “Also, using the phrase Zero Rejects is just a media affirmation, a copy of what former administrations did, by offering scholarships for private and technical schools.”

Source: El Universal (sp), Milenio (sp)