TO THE EDITOR:
The rector of the University of Chile, Alejandra Mizala, rightly said in La Tercera that we must invest in early education, and that education is a system in which if one part is affected to support another, the entire system suffers. The rector of the Catholic University, Juan Carlos de la Llera, expressed the same in a recent opinion column.
The difference in contributions to the educational system pointed out by the rectors was confirmed by the Minister of Education María Paz Arzola, when she acknowledged that "over the last 10 years, while public spending on higher education doubled, in the other levels it grew by about a third."
As both rectors rightly point out, the decision not to give sufficient resources to one part of the system (in this case, early and school education) in order to support another (higher education) has affected the quality of the entire educational system, because the very foundation on which it is built was damaged: Simce 2025 showed that nearly one in three 4th grade students is at the Insufficient level in Reading, more than 40% of 8th grade students do not understand what they read, and in 10th grade almost half of students are in that condition; and in the latest PISA test, Chilean students lowered their scores in Mathematics and Reading, and had their worst performance in two decades. All of the above amid the crisis facing teacher training in the country, including at the U. of …
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SANTIAGO - CHILE - SCHOOL - SCHOOL - HIGH SCHOOL - EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION - EDUCATION - STUDENTS - STUDENT - SCHOOLCHILDREN - SCHOOLCHILD - CHILDREN - INTERIOR HALLWAY - SHADOW OF A CHILD - SILHOUETTE OF A CHILD PEDRO RODRIGUEZ Comments
TO THE EDITOR:
The rector of the University of Chile, Alejandra Mizala, rightly said in La Tercera that we must invest in early education, and that education is a system in which if one part is affected to support another, the entire system suffers. The rector of the Catholic University, Juan Carlos de la Llera, expressed the same in a recent opinion column. The difference in contributions to the educational system pointed out by the rectors was confirmed by the Minister of Education María Paz Arzola, when she acknowledged that "over the last 10 years, while public spending on higher education doubled, in the rest of the levels it grew by about a third." As both rectors rightly point out, the decision not to give sufficient resources to one part of the system (in this case, early and school education) in order to support another (higher education) has affected the quality of the entire educational system, because the very foundation on which it is built was damaged: Simce 2025 showed that nearly one in three 4th grade students is at the Insufficient level in Reading, more than 40% of 8th grade students do not understand what they read, and in 10th grade (2nd year of secondary school) almost half of the students are in that condition; and in the latest PISA test, Chilean schoolchildren lowered their scores in Mathematics and Reading, and had their worst performance in two decades. All of this amid the crisis affecting teacher training in the country, including the University of Chile itself, which lacks a Faculty of Education.
The 2027 Budget Law must allocate resources to early and school education in amounts sufficient to quickly and effectively improve its equity and quality, with concrete objectives, goals, and deadlines, and with a public accounting of its results.
Víctor Pérez Vera
Former rector of the University of Chile
More about: Budget Law, School Education, Equity, Quality