\n
Con esto en mente, el gobierno impuls\u00f3 una nueva legislaci\u00f3n destinada de manera espec\u00edfica a elevar los est\u00e1ndares educacionales en las deficientes escuelas p\u00fablicas del pa\u00eds.<\/P>
\n
Aprobada por el Congreso en enero y promulgada por el presidente Sebasti\u00e1n Pi\u00f1era el mes pasado, la ley se concentra en mejorar la calidad de la docencia en las salas de clases.<\/P>
\n
![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ESP_SECOND_MAR2011_MATIAS_LIRA.jpg\")
Para que los alumnos de educaci\u00f3n secundaria con altos puntajes en la PSU se sientan atra\u00eddos a estudiar pedagog\u00eda, se les entregar\u00e1n becas y otros beneficios, mientras que a los estudiantes de educaci\u00f3n que tengan un buen desempe\u00f1o en su examen de grado tendr\u00e1n un aumento en su sueldo base.<\/P>
\n
Los profesores tambi\u00e9n recibir\u00e1n un pago adicional por trabajar en escuelas con grandes cantidades de estudiantes muy pobres y por lograr altos puntajes en la evaluaci\u00f3n docente anual.<\/P>
\n
Y para aquellos profesores que ya se cansaron, el gobierno lanzar\u00e1 un programa de retiro voluntario a fin de permitir que entre m\u00e1s sangre nueva al sistema.<\/P>
\n
\u201cLa reforma apunta a reevaluar la profesi\u00f3n de pedagogo: queremos darle a los profesores el prestigio social que este trabajo se merece\u201d, dijo a bUSiness CHILE<\/STRONG> el subsecretario subrogante de Educaci\u00f3n, Mat\u00edas Lira.<\/P> Los sueldos de los profesores casi se han triplicado en los \u00faltimos 20 a\u00f1os despu\u00e9s de que el gobierno militar los diezmara durante las d\u00e9cadas de los 70 y los 80, pero los est\u00e1ndares educacionales se han mantenido bajos.<\/P> Eso se debe en parte al Estatuto Docente de Chile, que se estableci\u00f3 hace 20 a\u00f1os y que hace casi imposible despedir a un profesor que cuente con un contrato indefinido.<\/P> Con la baja de la asistencia en las escuelas p\u00fablicas al tiempo que los alumnos migran a la competencia operada por privados, las escuelas a menudo tienen que reducir su personal, se\u00f1ala Jos\u00e9 Miguel Ossa, gerente de educaci\u00f3n de Puente Alto, una de las comunas m\u00e1s pobres de Santiago.<\/P> Pero concluye que con frecuencia se ve obligado a dejar partir a talentosos profesores temporales, incluso a algunos que han sido premiados, debido a que sus colegas con contrato son intocables.<\/P> \u201cEl Estatuto Docente est\u00e1 manteniendo prisionera a la educaci\u00f3n y con ella al pa\u00eds en su conjunto\u201d, se lamenta Ossa.<\/P> Poder para los Directores<\/STRONG><\/P> Paralelamente, la ley asignar\u00e1 m\u00e1s responsabilidades a los directores de las escuelas a fin de mejorar los est\u00e1ndares en sus colegios.<\/P> Los directores ser\u00e1n designados a trav\u00e9s de un nuevo sistema profesional de reclutamiento, similar al que se emplea para seleccionar a altos funcionarios p\u00fablicos, y tendr\u00e1n que satisfacer metas anuales de desempe\u00f1o si quieren mantener sus empleos.<\/P> No es de sorprender entonces que la medida fuera f\u00e9rreamente resistida por los sindicatos de profesores que convocaron a una serie de huelgas durante el debate del proyecto de ley.<\/P> \u201cNo es justo culpar a los profesores por lo que ha ocurrido en la educaci\u00f3n\u201d, sostiene Jaime Gajardo, presidente del Colegio de Profesores de Chile.<\/P> Seg\u00fan Gajardo, la medida apunta a convertir a los directores de los colegios en una especie de gerentes de empresa, concentrados en el logro de metas con poca consideraci\u00f3n por el bienestar de los alumnos o los profesores.<\/P> \u201cQuitar estabilidad no mejorar\u00e1 la calidad\u201d, argumenta.<\/P> En escuelas subvencionadas, donde los directores ya tienen tales facultades, la diferencia en el desempe\u00f1o con las escuelas p\u00fablicas es m\u00ednima una vez que se toman en cuenta factores como los antecedentes de los alumnos, afirma Gajardo.<\/P> La posici\u00f3n del gobierno dif\u00edcilmente podr\u00edas ser m\u00e1s distinta.<\/P> \u201cSi queremos exigirles m\u00e1s (a los directores de las escuelas), tenemos que darles mayor autonom\u00eda para poder implementar los cambios necesarios a fin de cumplir estos nuevos objetivos\u201d, argumenta Lira.<\/P> En Puente Alto, Ossa acoge de buena forma la medida, pero le gustar\u00eda que fuera m\u00e1s all\u00e1. \u201cCinco por ciento es un paso adelante, pero es absolutamente insuficiente\u201d, sostiene.<\/P> Con no m\u00e1s de uno o dos profesores en riesgo en cada colegio, el personal sabr\u00e1 muy bien quien va a ser despedido, lo que dar\u00e1 poco incentivo para que el resto mejore su desempe\u00f1o, afirma.<\/P> Espacio para Mejorar<\/STRONG><\/P> Seg\u00fan Waissbluth, la ley es un paso en la direcci\u00f3n correcta, pero que el gobierno la describa como \u201cla reforma educacional\u201d, le preocupa.<\/P> Los enormes problemas que enfrenta el sistema de educaci\u00f3n p\u00fablica no se resolver\u00e1n con el pu\u00f1ado de medidas incluidas en la ley, se\u00f1ala.<\/P> Y, durante el debate legislativo sobre la aprobaci\u00f3n del proyecto de ley, opositores y partidarios del gobierno acordaron una lista de otras \u00e1reas donde se requiere trabajar si el sistema de educaci\u00f3n p\u00fablica de Chile ha de mejorar.<\/P> La lista es larga y variada, y muchos de los \u00edtems son temas pol\u00edticos \u00e1lgidos que no se revolver\u00e1n f\u00e1cilmente. Por ejemplo, una propuesta apunta a una expansi\u00f3n masiva de la educaci\u00f3n preescolar, que los expertos en educaci\u00f3n ven cada vez m\u00e1s como un factor clave para el futuro desempe\u00f1o acad\u00e9mico de los ni\u00f1os.<\/P> La ex presidenta Michelle Bachelet supervis\u00f3 un ambicioso aumento en la cobertura, de cerca del 12% al 38% en solo cuatro a\u00f1os. No obstante, garantizar que todos los ni\u00f1os reciban una educaci\u00f3n preescolar decente requerir\u00e1 una enorme inversi\u00f3n p\u00fablica.<\/P> Otra prioridad tiene que corresponder a las escuelas t\u00e9cnicas del pa\u00eds. Pese a la enorme expansi\u00f3n de la educaci\u00f3n superior durante la \u00faltima d\u00e9cada, ser\u00eda mucho mejor para miles de j\u00f3venes estudiar oficios de manera que puedan ingresar a la fuerza laboral lo antes posible.<\/P> Desafortunadamente, las escuelas t\u00e9cnicas se encuentran en un p\u00e9simo estado y rara vez se mencionan en el debate, en perjuicio de los cerca de 400.000 alumnos que atienden, muchos de los cuales provienen de los estratos m\u00e1s vulnerables de la sociedad.<\/P> “Estas escuelas han sido abandonadas\u201d, destaca Waissbluth. Una vez m\u00e1s, se necesita m\u00e1s dinero, mucho m\u00e1s dinero.<\/P> Pagar por la Educaci\u00f3n<\/STRONG><\/P> Los problemas que enfrentan los jardines infantiles y las escuelas t\u00e9cnicas de Chile reflejan un hecho clave que todos los sectores est\u00e1n comenzando a aceptar: el pa\u00eds necesita gastar much\u00edsimo m\u00e1s en la educaci\u00f3n de sus ni\u00f1os que lo que gasta en la actualidad.<\/P> Educaci\u00f3n 2020 estima que es necesario incrementar el gasto p\u00fablico en educaci\u00f3n en US$ 1.500 millones al a\u00f1o a fin de alcanzar los niveles de la OCDE para el t\u00e9rmino de la d\u00e9cada.<\/P> \u201cSi el pa\u00eds quiere una buena educaci\u00f3n necesita invertir dinero: no hay ninguna f\u00f3rmula m\u00e1gica\u201d, concuerda Gajardo.<\/P> Pero antes de que eso pueda ocurrir, se requiere un debate sobre c\u00f3mo deber\u00eda gastarse el dinero y sobre qui\u00e9n ser\u00eda el responsable del mismo.<\/P> En la actualidad, el sistema escolar p\u00fablico est\u00e1 en manos de los gobiernos municipales, pero las grandes disparidades entre ellos significan que los est\u00e1ndares de gesti\u00f3n pueden variar ampliamente entre una comuna y otra.<\/P> Mientras algunas cuentan con grandes departamentos urbanos de educaci\u00f3n que tienen hasta 70 empleados, el 60 por ciento de las municipalidades tienen a solo una persona responsable de educaci\u00f3n, de los cuales casi un tercio trabajan a jornada parcial.<\/P> Waissbluth no se guarda sus cr\u00edticas. \u201cSon un desastre que debe resolverse\u201d, asevera.<\/P> Pero a\u00fan hay una interrogantes respecto de c\u00f3mo esto deber\u00eda llevarse a cabo.<\/P> Seg\u00fan Gajardo, las escuelas p\u00fablicas deber\u00edan dejar de estar en manos de las municipalidades. Asediadas por todos lados por las crecientes necesidades sociales, las municipalidades han sub financiado de manera constante a las escuelas p\u00fablicas en varios miles de millones de d\u00f3lares.<\/P> \u201cEntregarles m\u00e1s dinero, sin importar cu\u00e1nto, siempre ser\u00e1 insuficiente; es como echar dinero a un pozo sin fondo\u201d, argumenta.<\/P> En cambio, Gajardo quiere que las escuelas p\u00fablicas sean operadas de manera central por el Ministerio de Educaci\u00f3n.<\/P> Como cab\u00eda esperar, Ossa no est\u00e1 de acuerdo. Las municipalidades est\u00e1n en una posici\u00f3n mucho mejor para entender las necesidades locales que el gobierno central, se\u00f1ala, al tiempo que los intentos del ministerio por el control pueden ser contraproducentes. Ossa apunta a una prohibici\u00f3n sobre el uso de fondos para alumnos vulnerables para aumentar los salarios de los profesores.<\/P> \u201cEsto es un poco rid\u00edculo dado que los salarios corresponden al 80% del presupuesto de educaci\u00f3n\u201d, indica.<\/P> Sin embargo, el gobierno quiere reducir la participaci\u00f3n del Estado en la educaci\u00f3n mediante la implementaci\u00f3n de un sistema de vouchers que permitir\u00e1 a los estudiantes escoger entre escuelas operadas por privados, dice Gajardo.<\/P> Es una medida que los miembros del Colegio de Profesores est\u00e1n decididos a combatir incluso m\u00e1s f\u00e9rreamente que el cambio anterior. \u201cCreemos que el conflicto ser\u00e1 inevitable\u201d, sostiene.<\/P> Si bien todas las partes concuerdan en que Chile necesita mejorar sus est\u00e1ndares educacionales con desesperaci\u00f3n, c\u00f3mo ello ha de llevarse a cabo promete ser una fuente de amarga divisi\u00f3n.<\/P> La nueva ley parece un buen paso para dar vuelta el d\u00e9ficit en la educaci\u00f3n p\u00fablica de Chile, pero solo el primero de un camino muy largo y dif\u00edcil.<\/P> Tom Azzopardi<\/STRONG> trabaja como periodista freelance en Santiago.<\/P> Chile\u2019s schools are failing its students. That\u2019s the evidence borne out by a welter of reports.<\/P> According to the latest PISA study, a widely used measuring stick for comparing the abilities of students in different countries, Chilean students scored an average 449 points in reading; that\u2019s way ahead of the rest of South America but 44 points behind the average in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which Chile joined last year. In mathematics, Chile lagged 75 points behind the OECD average.<\/P> But while these figures are disappointing, the picture gets a lot worse if you dig deeper, says Mario Waissbluth, a professor of industrial engineering at the Universidad de Chile and national coordinator of the Educaci\u00f3n 2020 citizen’s movement.<\/P> A third of Chilean high school pupils scored in the bottom rung on reading ability. That compares to an average of less than 20 percent amongst OECD countries and just 6 percent in an educational highflyer such as South Korea.<\/P> Worse still, in Chile\u2019s deeply unequal society, those leaving school unable to understand what they read are probably already amongst the most deprived both financially and geographically.<\/P> \u201cThey will have no future because they live in impoverished areas, with few chances of getting out,\u201d says Waissbluth.<\/P> Pupils are aware of their grim prospects. Five years ago thousands of high-school students took to the streets demanding that the government invest more of the country\u2019s huge copper revenues in improving public schools. Hundreds locked themselves inside school buildings. However, the government\u2019s response was minimal.<\/P> Chile\u2019s low educational standards not only blight individuals\u00b4 life chances but also the country\u2019s chance of development as a whole. Hopes of moving from an economy based largely on the exploitation of natural resources, like copper, wood and nitrates, to one based around services and technology seem remote if almost half the workforce has difficultly reading.<\/P> Numerous observers have pointed to education as the black spot amongst Chile\u2019s exemplary public policy achievements, and one the country will have to tackle if it wants to achieve the government\u2019s target of becoming a developed nation by the end of the decade.<\/P> Higher standards<\/STRONG><\/P> With this in mind, the government has pushed new legislation through specifically aimed at lifting educational standards in the country\u2019s failing public schools.<\/P> Approved by Congress in January and promulgated by President Sebasti\u00e1n Pi\u00f1era last month, the law focuses on improving the quality of teaching in the classroom.<\/P> Teachers will also be paid extra for working in schools with high numbers of impoverished students and for scoring highly in annual assessments.<\/P> And for those teachers who have had enough, the government will launch a voluntary retirement program to allow more fresh blood to be brought into the system.<\/P> \u201cThe reform aims at revaluing the teaching profession: we want to give teachers the social prestige that this job deserves,\u201d Acting Deputy Education Minister Mat\u00edas Lira told bUSiness CHILE<\/STRONG>.<\/P> Teachers\u2019 pay has almost tripled in the last two decades after the military government demolished wages through the 1970s and 80s, but educational standards have remained low.<\/P> That is partly due to Chile\u2019s 20 year-old teaching statute which makes it almost impossible to fire any teacher on a permanent contract.<\/P> With public school attendance falling as pupils migrate to the privately-run competition, schools often have to reduce staff numbers, says Jos\u00e9 Miguel Ossa, head of education in Puente Alto, one of Santiago\u2019s poorest neighborhoods.<\/P> But he finds he is often forced to let go talented temporary teachers, even prize-winning ones, as their colleagues on contracts are untouchable.<\/P> \u201cThe teachers\u2019 statute is holding the education system prisoner and with it the country as a whole,\u201d laments Ossa.<\/P> Power to the principals<\/STRONG><\/P> In parallel, the law will grant more responsibility to school principals to improve standards in their schools.<\/P> Principals will be appointed through a new professional recruitment system, similar to that for selecting senior civil servants, and will have to meet yearly performance targets if they want to keep their jobs.<\/P> Unsurprisingly, the measure was fiercely resisted by teachers\u2019 unions that called a series of strikes during the debate over the bill.<\/P> \u201cIt\u2019s not fair to blame the teachers for what\u2019s happening in education,\u201d says Jaime Gajardo, president of Chile\u2019s national teachers union.<\/P> According to Gajardo, the measures aim to turn school principals into something like company managers, focused on the achievement of targets with little regard for the well-being of pupils or teachers.<\/P> \u201cRemoving stability will not improve quality,\u201d he argues.<\/P> In subsidized schools, where principals already have such powers, the difference in performance with public schools is minimal once factors like pupil background are taken into account, Gajardo says.<\/P> The government\u2019s position could hardly be more different.<\/P> \u201cIf we want to demand more from [school principals], we have to give them greater autonomy to be able to implement the changes necessary to meet the new targets,\u201d argues Lira.<\/P> In Puente Alto, Ossa welcomes the move but wishes it went further. \u201cFive percent is a step forward but it\u2019s absolutely insufficient,\u201d he says.<\/P> With no more than one or two teachers at risk in each school, staff will be well aware who is for the chop, providing little incentive for the rest to up their game, he argues.<\/P> Room to improve<\/STRONG><\/P> According to Waissbluth, the law is a step in the right direction, but the government\u2019s description as \u201cthe educational reform,\u201d worries him.<\/P> The dire problems facing the public education system will not be solved by the handful of measures included in the law, he says.<\/P> The government has recognized this fact. In a recent statement, Education Minister Joaquin Lav\u00edn described the law as just one pillar of the larger reform the And, during the legislative debate over the approval of the bill, opponents and supporters of the government agreed on a list of other areas where work is needed if Chile\u2019s public education system is to improve.<\/P> The list is long and varied and many of the items are political hot potatoes that will not be easily resolved. For example, one proposal is for a massive expansion of preschool education which education experts increasingly see as critical for children\u2019s future academic performance.<\/P> Former President Michelle Bachelet oversaw an ambitious increase in coverage, from around 12% to 38% in just four years. But ensuring that all children receive decent preschool education will require massive public investment.<\/P> Another priority ought to be the country\u2019s technical schools. Despite the huge expansion of higher education over the last decade, thousands of teenagers are better served learning trades so they can enter the labor force as early as possible.<\/P> Unfortunately, the technical schools are in a terrible state and are rarely mentioned in the debate, to the detriment of the close to 400,000 pupils they serve, many of whom come from the most vulnerable strata of society.<\/P> “These schools have been abandoned,\u201d notes Waissbluth. Once again more money, much more, is needed.<\/P> Paying for education<\/STRONG><\/P> The problems facing Chile\u2019s technical schools and nurseries reflect a critical fact that all sides are beginning to accept: the country needs to spend a great deal more on its children\u2019s\u2019 education than it currently does.<\/P> Educaci\u00f3n 2020 estimates that public spending on education needs to increase US$1.5 billion annually to reach OECD levels by the end of the decade.<\/P> \u201cIf the country wants good education it needs to invest money: there is no magic formula,\u201d concurs Gajardo.<\/P> But before that can happen, a debate is needed on how the money should be spent and who is responsible for the spending.<\/P> The public school system is currently in the hands of municipal governments but the huge disparities between them mean management standards can vary widely between one district and another.<\/P> While some large urban education departments have up to 70 employees, 60 percent of municipalities have just one person responsible for education almost a third of whom work part-time.<\/P> Waissbluth does not spare his criticism. \u201cThey are a disaster which must be resolved,\u201d he says.<\/P> But a question mark remains over how this should be done.<\/P> According to Gajardo, public schools should be taken out of the hands of the municipalities. Besieged on all sides by gaping social needs, these have consistently underfinanced public schools to the tune of several billion dollars.<\/P> \u201cPushing more money their way, however much, will always be insufficient; It\u2019s like throwing money into a bottomless pit,\u201d he argues.<\/P> Instead, he wants public schools run centrally through the Education Ministry.<\/P> Not surprisingly, Ossa disagrees. Municipalities are much better placed to understand local needs than central government, he says, while the ministry\u2019s attempts at control can be counterproductive. He points to a ban on using funding for vulnerable pupils to increase teachers\u2019 pay.<\/P> \u201cThis is a little ridiculous given wages account for 80% of the education budget,\u201d he says.<\/P> The government, however, wants to reduce state involvement in education by implementing a voucher system that would allow all students to choose between privately-run schools, says Gajardo.<\/P> It is a move his members are determined to fight even more fiercely than the previous change. \u201cWe believe conflict will be inevitable,\u201d he says.<\/P> While all sides agree Chile desperately needs to improve educational standards, how that is to be done promises to be a source of bitter division.<\/P> The new law looks like a good step towards turning around Chile\u2019s public education deficit, but just the first on a very long and difficult road.<\/P> Tom Azzopardi<\/STRONG> is a freelance journalist based in Santiago.<\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Las escuelas de Chile les est\u00e1n fallando a sus estudiantes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","news_tax":[],"user_type":[],"class_list":["post-4493","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ESP_SECOND_MAR2011_JAIME_GAJARDO.jpg\")
A cambio, podr\u00e1n armar sus propios equipos de administraci\u00f3n y, m\u00e1s controversialmente, despedir hasta el 5 por ciento de los profesores peor evaluados.<\/P>
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ESP_SECOND_MAR2011_MARIO_WAISSBLUT.jpg\")
Ello ha sido reconocido por el gobierno. En un reciente comunicado, el ministro de Educaci\u00f3n de Chile, Joaqu\u00edn Lav\u00edn, calific\u00f3 a la ley solo como un pilar de la reforma m\u00e1s amplia que el gobierno quiere implementar.<\/P>
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ENG_SECOND_MAR2011_MATIAS_LIRA.jpg\")
High-scoring high school pupils will be attracted into teaching with grants and other benefits while education students who do well in an end of course exam will see their starting pay increased.<\/P>
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ENG_SECOND_MAR2011_JAIME_GAJARDO.jpg\")
In return, they will be able to put together their own management teams and, more controversially, sack up to 5 percent of the worst-evaluated teachers.<\/P>
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/sites\/default\/files\/ENG_SECOND_MAR2011_MARIO_WAISSBLUT.jpg\")
administration wants to enact.<\/P>
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n