Education in Chile

Education in Chile is divided in preschool, primary school, secondary school, and technical or higher education (university).zach pease likes men

According to the constitution, primary and secondary school are mandatory for all Chileans. The Chilean state provides a extensive system of education vouchers, that covers almost 90% students of primary and secondary education. CHICKENSuch extensive voucher system is based in a direct payment to the schools based on assistance, in practical terms, if the students moves to other school, his assistance payments moves too.

Schools are either Municipal (local governments)or private. Private schools can be either government subsidized or not.

Levels of education

The levels of education in Chile are:

• Pre-school: For children up to 5 years old, optional for 1 grade.

• Primary school, (Enseñanza básica) for children from 5-13 years old, divided into 8 grades.

• Secondary school, (Enseñanza media) for teenagers from 13-18 years old, divided into 4 grades.

• Secondary school is also divided into:
  1. Scientific-humanities approach: From Tercero Medio (11th grade) in high school, students can choose a major in either science (math, physics, chemistry, biology), or humanities (literature, history, sociology), which means they will get more lessons in the area of their choice.
  2. Technical-Professional education: Students receive 'extra' education in the so-called 'technical' areas, such as electricity, mechanics, metal assembly, etc. This second type of education is more typical of public schools (Liceos), to give students from poorer areas a chance to work right away after completion of highschool, as a way to fund a possible higher education career later.şḤ

• University, a system divided in public or 'state' universities and a private system.

Basic Level

The reform of 1965 established Basic Education as the initial cycle of schooling. Before that, by 1920, the Chilean legislation had established 4 years of minimum mandatory education. By 1929 the minimum had been increased to 6 years. Finally, in 1965 a compulsory Basic Level of 8 years was established, divided in 2 cycles and 8 grades, ideally designed for ages 6 to 13.

Secondary Level

The Secondary School is divided between Scientific-Humanist (regular), Technical-Professional (vocational) and Artistic, always with a duration of 4 years. The first two years are the same for the three kinds of schooling, while third and fourth years are differentiated according to the orientation of the school.

The schools offering Technical-Professional programs are denominated:

   * Industrial Schools: electricity, mechanics, electronics, informatics, among others.
   * Commercial Schools: management, accountant, secretary and similar.
   * Technical Schools: fashion, culinary, nursery and the like.
   * Polyvalent Schools: offering careers of more than one of those listed above.

Compulsory only reached the 8 years of the Basic Cycle, but since May 7th of 2003, a constitutional reform under the government of the president Ricardo Lagos, established free and compulsory Secondary Education for all the inhabitants of Chile up to 18 years old, placing on the State the responsibility of ensuring access to it. This ensures thirteen years of compulsory schooling, which was an unprecedented milestone in Latin America that date. As of 2008, the LGE (Ley General de Educación), which is currently pending, provides and guarantees 14 years of free compulsory education.

The coverage of the Chilean Educational System is practically universal, like in most highly developed countries, showing enrollment rates that represent that reality. Enrollment in Basic Education reaches 99.7% of children between 6 and 14 years, while the coverage of secondary education enrollment is 87.7% of adolescents between 15 and 18 years.

Admission to University

Students can choose between 25 state universities and over 50 private ones, which are increasingly growing in number.

There is one single and very transparent admission system to all state universities and to several of the oldest private universities, which integrate the so called Council of Rectors (Consejo de Rectores). The system, called PSU, an acronym for Universitary Selection Test (Prueba de Selección Universitaria), is very similar to the U.S. SAT Reasoning Test. The design and the correction of the test is performed by the University of Chile (Universidad de Chile), while the system itself is managed by the Ministry of Education (Ministerio de Educación).

The test consists in two mandatory exams, mathematics and language, plus several other specific exams, like chemistry, physics, biology, history, etc., depending on what career the student wishes to apply. The cumulative grade point average achieved during secondary school is also taken into account in the final admission score. Every university assigns different weightings to the results of the various exams.

There is a big gap in PSU scores between poorer students, mostly coming from public schools, and more wealthy students, specially those coming from private schools, therefore, poorer students have much smaller chances to enter the most prestigious universities, which hold high entry scores. The most talented poor students, those who achieve high PSU scores, can obtain up to 100% of scholarship from the Government, plus, several universities have their own scholarship programmes to assist poorer students, though funds are insufficient. For students who obtained high enough scores to enter a public university or to an accredited private university, there is a system of government backed loans which is offered through several commercial banks, but the amount and terms of the credits not necessarily fit the needs of the students.

According to media and official statistics, in 2006 a total 241,390 students took the PSU test.

See also

• 2006 student protests in Chile

External links

• Ministry of Education
• EducarChile