School Education in Chile
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OECD Reviews of School Resources: Chile 2017 © OECD 2017 Chapter 1 School education in Chile The market-oriented education reforms of the 1980s entailed the decentralisation of public school management responsibilities to municipalities and the introduction of a nationwide voucher programme. This is completed by the Ministry of Education’s role as the co-ordinator and regulator of the education system. The Ministry designs policies, develops programmes and quality standards (including the curriculum), officially recognises education providers, and offers technical and pedagogical support to schools. It shares responsibilities for the National System of Quality Assurance with three other institutions: the National Education Council, the Agency for Quality Education and the Education Superintendence. As of late 2015, the government initiated a reform of the administration of public education, which intends to remove the administration and management of public schools from municipalities and create a system of public education, in a process called New Public Education. It involves the creation of Local Education Services, the new providers of public education, which are co-ordinated by a body within the Ministry of Education. The majority of children attend publicly-subsidised private education. Educational attainment in Chile has considerably improved in recent years. Lower secondary education is now virtually universal and there has been progress in retaining students in upper secondary education even if about 20% of a cohort does not reach the final year of upper secondary education. Student learning outcomes in Chile are considerably below the OECD average but there has been considerable progress in the last decade. Finally, students’ and schools’ socio-economic status have a strong impact on student performance. 39 1. SCHOOL EDUCATION IN CHILE This chapter provides political, demographic and economic background information for the subsequent analysis. It also includes a detailed description of the Chilean school system, including its governance. In addition, it provides an account of recent developments and main trends within the education system of Chile. Context Situated on the Pacific coast of South America, Chile spans a territory of about 756 000 square kilometres and, in 2014, had a population of about 17.8 million (United Nations, 2015). Chile shares a border with Argentina to the east, Bolivia to the northeast and Peru to the north. The country’s capital and largest city is Santiago (metropolitan area with 7.3 million inhabitants, INE, 2015). Governance and administration Chile is a presidential, representative democracy whose Constitution establishes the separation of powers among three branches: the legislative (the National Congress [Congreso Nacional de Chile], a bicameral Parliament comprised of a Chamber of Deputies [Cámara de Diputados] and a Senate Chamber [Cámara de Senadores]), the executive (the President, who is both head of government and head of state; a Cabinet of Ministers), and the judiciary (the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, Oral Criminal Tribunals and Guarantee Judges, Local Police Courts, among others). The Constitutional Court, the Electoral Court and the Court of Auditors (Contraloría General de la República) function as additional supervisory bodies (MINEDUC, ACE and ES, 2016). Elections for the Presidency and for the Chamber of Deputies are held every four years while senators are elected for eight years. Chile is a unitary state with political powers concentrated in the capital city. It is administratively divided in 15 regions (including the Metropolitan Region where the national capital Santiago is located), 54 provinces and 346 municipalities (comunas). The most populated regions in 2015 were the Metropolitan Region (estimated 7.3 million inhabitants), Bío bío (2.1 million), Valparaíso (1.8 million), Maule (1.0 million), La Araucanía (1.0 million), O’Higgins (0.9 million) and Los Lagos (0.8 million) (INE, 2015) (see Table 1.1). The 15 regions are governed by intendents (intendentes), nominated by the President, who are supported by Regional Ministerial Secretaries (representatives of ministries in regions) and elected regional councils. Provinces are led by governors (gobernadores) also nominated by the President. Both regional and provincial executive authorities implement national laws and policies dictated by the central government. Municipalities are led by mayors (alcaldes) and a municipal council, both elected by the respective populations every four years. Municipalities take responsibility for a range of public services such as education and health care. 40 OECD REVIEWS OF SCHOOL RESOURCES: CHILE 2017 © OECD 2017 1. SCHOOL EDUCATION IN CHILE Table 1.1. Regions of Chile Population density Region Population Share of Capital Provinces Municipalities Area (km2) (inhabitants per km2, (region number) (thousands, 2015) population (%) 2015) Arica and Parinacota (15) Arica 2 4 239.1 1.3 16 873.3 14.2 Tarapacá (1) Iquique 2 7 336.8 1.9 42 225.8 8.0 Antofagasta (2) Antofagasta 3 9 622.6 3.5 126 049.1 4.9 Atacama (3) Copiapó 3 9 312.5 1.7 75 176.2 4.2 Coquimbo (4) La Serena 3 15 771.1 4.3 40 579.9 19.0 Valparaíso (5) Valparaíso 8 38 1 825.8 10.1 16 396.1 111.4 Santiago Metropolitan Santiago 6 52 7 314.2 40.6 15 403.2 474.8 area (13) O’Higgins (6) Rancagua 3 33 918.8 5.1 16 387.0 56.1 Maule (7) Talca 4 30 1 043.0 5.8 30 296.1 34.4 Bio bío (8) Concepción 4 54 2 114.3 11.7 37 068.7 57.0 La Araucanía (9) Temuco 2 32 989.8 5.5 31 842.3 31.1 Los Ríos (14) Valdivia 2 12 404.4 2.2 18 429.5 21.9 Los Lagos (10) Puerto Montt 4 30 841.1 4.7 48 583.6 17.3 Aysén (11) Coyhaique 4 10 108.3 0.6 108 494.4 1.0 Magallanes (12) Punta Arenas 4 11 164.7 0.9 1 382 291.1 0.1 Chile Santiago 54 346 18 006.4 100 2 006 096.3 9.0 Source: INE (2015), Compendio Estadístico 2015 [Statistical Compendium 2015], www.ine.cl/docs/default-source/publicaciones/ 2015/compendio_estadistico_ine_2015.pdf?sfvrsn=4. Demographic characteristics Population The majority of Chile’s regions are sparsely populated resulting in a low overall population density of 9 inhabitants per square kilometre. The Santiago Metropolitan area and Valparaíso region are the main exceptions with 475 and 111 inhabitants/km2 respectively (see Table 1.1). In 2015, 41% of Chile’s population lived in the Santiago Metropolitan Area. In 2015, about 87% of Chile’s population lived in urban areas dominated by the agglomerations of Greater Santiago, Greater Concepción and Greater Valparaíso (INE, 2015). Chile’s population is expected to continue growing, reaching 19.1 million by 2025 and 20.1 million by 2040 (INE, 2015). Chile is also confronted with a rapidly ageing population – a trend which will continue in the coming years, as can be seen in Figure 1.1. Fertility rates have dropped over the past two decades and the proportion of over 65-year-olds has increased from 5.0% in 1970 to 10.3% in 2015 (OECD, 2016a). The evolution of the school-age population in Chile is slightly different from that of the average OECD country. As can be seen in Figure 1.2, following a significant increase for all age cohorts from 1990, the school-age population declined and reached low points in 2005 for 0-4 year-olds, 2010 for 5-9 year-olds and 2015 for 10-14 year-olds. Except for the further decrease expected in the 15-19 year-olds bracket to 2020, the student age population is expected to stabilise in the next ten years. Cultural diversity There is considerable cultural diversity in the country. According to the 2002 census, Indigenous people constituted approximately 4.6% of the population. Of these, about 87% OECD REVIEWS OF SCHOOL RESOURCES: CHILE 2017 © OECD 2017 41 1. SCHOOL EDUCATION IN CHILE Figure 1.1. Chilean population pyramids in 2000, 2015 and 2030 Female 2030 Male 2030 Male 2015 Female 2015 Male 2000 Female 2000 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 85+ 80-84 75-79 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 25-29 20-24 15-19 10-14 5-9 0-4 % Males % Females Source: OECD (2016a), Historical Population Data and Projections (1950-2050), http://dotstat.oecd.org/Index.aspx (accessed on 31 August 2016). Figure 1.2. Variation in Chile’s school-age population compared to the OECD 1990 = 100 0 to 4 years 5 to 9 years 10 to 14 years 15 to 19 years Chile OECD 130 130 125 125 120 120 115 115 110 110 105 105 100 100 95 95 90 90 85 85 80 80 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 Source: OECD (2016a), Historical Population Data and Projections (1950-2050), http://dotstat.oecd.org/Index.aspx (accessed on 31 August 2016). 42 OECD REVIEWS OF SCHOOL RESOURCES: CHILE 2017 © OECD 2017 1. SCHOOL EDUCATION IN CHILE belonged to the main ethnic group of the Mapuche (INE, 2003). The 2015 national socio- economic household characterisation survey (Encuesta de Caracterización Socioeconómica Nacional, CASEN) estimates the Indigenous population to constitute 9.0% of the population in continental Chile. Ethnic groups represented are Mapuche (83.8%), Aymara (6.8%), Diaguita (4.0%), Quechua (1.7%), Atacameño (Licanantai) (2.0%), Coya (1.0%), Kawésqar (0.3%), Rapa Nui (0.3%), Yagán (0.01%). In certain regions, the proportion of Indigenous people is significant: La Araucanía (31.7%), Arina and Parinacota (25.9%), Aysén (25.8%), Los Lagos (24.1%), Los Ríos (20.6%), Magallanes (17.5%), Atacama (17.2%) and Tarapacá (15.3%) (Ministry of Social Development, 2017).