Before taking this class, I knew very little about Chile. From our literacy circles and class discussions, I am now becoming more familiar with current issues concerning Chile. Education reform in Chile is one such issue that greatly interests me. Currently, thousands of students are fighting for the reduction in the high price of attending a university, a termination to for-profit schools, and for the removal of all school costs.
According to The Shock Doctrine, privatizing schools is not a new phenomenon. In 1980, Augusto Pinochet, the Commander in Chief of the Chilean army and military dictator of Chile (from 1973-1990), advocated for a free market economy. Pinochet privatized schools and many companies along with establishing a voucher system. The voucher system is still used today in Chile, with funding certificates distributed by the government. This system allows parents to send their child to a public or private school and to choose which particular school they want their child to attend. However, during a lecture that I attended this week, I learned that the voucher system is not really an option for poor families. Dr. Everhart, a professor at Adolfo Ibáñez University, explained the ways the voucher system has created an unequal distribution of wealth in Chile. While poor families can get a voucher for their children to attend a better school, these families do not have the means to pay for their children’s transportation to these schools or for other school-related costs. So, in reality, for these poor families, attending these schools is not an option.
In addition to reading about education reform, I asked my host sister what she thought about the education system in Chile. “It’s bad,” she said. “Private schools are costly. However, most students attend private school in order to receive a good education. The public schools are not good — they lack resources, funding, etc.”
I had assumed that at least some public schools in Chile would be decent, because I received a very good education from a public high school in Bethesda, Maryland. But as I found out, that is not the case in Chile.
As a young child growing up in Bethesda, Maryland, otherwise known as a “bubble,” I was not exposed to diversity as a regular part of my life. Bethesda (in Montgomery County) is called the “bubble” partially due to the abundance of fancy cars, soccer moms, and country clubs which give an “exclusive” feel to the place – and where one is made to feel that some “belong” and others don’t. Most high schools in upper Montgomery County were much more racially mixed than mine. In fact, people who go to other Montgomery County high schools call my high school “Whiteman” when really it is Whitman. Even though the lack of diversity greatly bothered me, I valued the education I received.
Living in Chile has definitely exposed me to all kinds of diversity — and it has made me think about how education reform ties in with diversity. Many poor people receive the most inadequate education simply because their parents don’t have the money to send them to private school.
Volunteering at Escuela República del Uruguay has been an overall positive experience. I am unsure if Escuela República del Uruguay is a private or public school. However, I recognize that the school is in a poorer part of Valparaiso—most students come from low-income families. The students I worked with were shy but very smart. They knew a fair amount of English and seemed to enjoy working on their Soy De Aqui film-making projects. I hope these girls can continue to shine and be a part of reforming the education system, so they can too receive a diploma from a university. To learn more about the history of Escuela República del Uruguay— click the link below!
https://sites.google.com/site/escuelauruguay256/mision-y-vision/historia-establecimiento
I can only hope that education reform will be supported in Chile to help change public and private schools for the better. Everyone should have free access to a good education. No one should be deprived of a good education simply because they do not have the means to afford it. Everyone deserves the opportunity to learn!