Chile
Context
In PISA 2015, Chile scored among the lowest in the OECD in science, with a mean score of 446 points, compared to the OECD average of 493 points. Performance in science remained stable across PISA cycles, with an average score change of 2.4 score points, while reading performance has increased and mathematics performance has stayed the same. Socio-economic social and cultural status had one of the largest impacts in the OECD on science performance in PISA 2015, explaining 16.9% of the variance in performance (OECD average: 12.9%). However, equity in science performance has increased significantly since PISA 2006. Gender differences in science performance were among the highest in the OECD, with a difference between boys and girls of 15 points, compared to the average difference across the OECD of 4 points. Immigrant students make up 2.1% of the student population of 15-year-olds in Chile, a lower proportion than the OECD average of 12.5%. Performance differences between immigrant and non-immigrant students are lower than the OECD average. Immigrants scored on average 23 score points lower than non-immigrants in science in PISA 2015, compared to the OECD average of 31 score points.
Enrolment of 3-year-olds in ECEC was lower than the OECD average in 2015 (at 55.6%, compared to the OECD average of 77.8%. However, at age 4, Chile’s enrolment rate is 86%, close to the OECD average of 87%. Pre-primary education (Educación parvularia) is organised by levels, with day care and a lower middle level (sala cuna y nivel medio menor) for children age 0-2, and upper middle and lower and upper transition levels (nivel medio mayor, nivel de transición 1 y nivel de transición 2) for children age 3-5. A national curriculum for early childhood education is in place for children age 0-5. Also, education-only and integrated education and care pre-primary programmes exist nationally. Both offer formal curricula that are delivered by qualified teachers. Compulsory education in Chile begins at age 6 and ends at age 18, longer than the typical duration across the OECD. Students are first tracked into different educational pathways at age 16, later than the OECD average of age 14. Upper secondary education is a four-year programme with a choice of three streams. Students can choose between general, artistic and technical education. Virtually all upper secondary graduates who expect to continue education take an entry exam (Prueba de Selección Universitaria, PSU). This exam, introduced in 2004, is an important gatekeeper into higher education, as the scores determine access to tertiary academic (type-A) programmes. Upon completion of each education stream, students receive a high school certificate, which allows them to advance to university, a professional institute (Instituto Profesional, IP), or a technical training centre (Centro de Formación Técnica, CFT).
VET is included in the technical professional education stream of the formal education system, where it is taught in technical and professional schools. After 12 years of compulsory education, students receive a secondary school leaving certificate (licencia de enseñanza media) and can obtain the title of middle-level technician if they complete workplace training (práctica profesional). Tertiary-level technical and vocational education and training (TVET) includes two-year programmes offered in CFTs, and four-year programmes in IPs, where students can develop high-level technical skills in fields like technology, agriculture or commerce. In the OECD Survey of Adult Skills in 2012 and 2015, adult literacy scores in Chile were relatively low, at 220 points, compared to the OECD average of 268 points. The proportion of the population age 25-64 with lower secondary education as the highest level of attainment in Chile is among the highest in the OECD, with an attainment rate of 22.2% in 2016, compared to the OECD average of 14.3%. NEET rates (those aged 18-24 that are not employed or in education or training) are also higher than average, at 21.1% compared to the OECD average of 15.3%.
Note: For each indicator, the absolute performance is standardised (normalised) using a normative score ranging from 0 to 220, where 100 was set at the average, taking into account all OECD countries with available data in each case.
Sources: OECD (2016), PISA 2015 Results (Volume I): Excellence and Equity in Education, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264266490-en; OECD (2016), Skills Matter: Further Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264258051-en; OECD (2017), Education at a Glance 2017: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing, Paris, http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/eag-2017-en.
Evolution of key policy priorities
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Identified by |
Equity and quality |
Preparing students for the future |
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Selected OECD country-based work, 2008-171 |
The OECD considered that providing better-quality education that is accessible to all needs to remain a national imperative. OECD evidence found that it is a priority for Chile to continue improving quality and coverage of ECEC. In the same way, addressing low student performance and the high student segregation that exists in the education system is also paramount for Chile. [2017] |
According to the OECD, enabling Chileans to develop skills as they age is also key for the country’s future prosperity. This relates to developing quality and relevance of VET, as well as good career advice for students. Improving the higher education system was also found to be a key area for Chile. This entails developing a vision, a strategy and effective quality-assurance mechanisms, as well as strengthening equity in access to higher education of the best quality and strengthening the relevance of higher education. |
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Evolution of responses to EPO Surveys, 2013 and 2016-17 |
Both equity and quality remain challenges in the Chilean educational system. New key challenges identified at the school level include reducing inequalities and segregation among students, strengthening public education across the country and strengthening the quality and coverage of ECEC. [2013; 2016-17] |
A new challenge identified by Chile is ensuring that young people and adults have opportunities to develop work and training trajectories according to their expectations and abilities, and that these are also aligned with the development needs of the country. [2016-17] |
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1. See Annex A, Table A A.3 for the list of OECD publications consulted for this snapshot. |
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Selected education policy responses
Through the Preferential School Subsidy (Ley de Subvención Escolar Preferencial, SEP, 2008) in Chile, primary schools receive additional funding for enrolment of socio-economically disadvantaged students. These funds are in addition to the baseline funding that public and government-subsidised private schools receive for each enrolled student. In 2008, the introduction of the preferential education subsidy modified this scheme to make it more equity-oriented. It allocates a large share of expenditure on a per-student basis (topping up the flat-rate voucher) and provides an additional amount for schools that enrol a significant proportion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds. Acceptance of these funds is voluntary. Concretely, schools that receive the supplement have to sign an agreement, elaborate a plan for education improvement, set objectives and define measures to support students with learning difficulties. Schools are categorised as autonomous, emerging or recovering, based on criteria such as their results in the national standardised assessment of student performance (Sistema de Medición de Calidad de la Educación). Depending on their category, schools either design their own educational improvement plan, receive support from the Education Ministry to draft their progress plans or get external technical assistance. Struggling schools that fail to improve after receiving assistance risk losing their licence or their eligibility for the subsidy (OECD, 2013).
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Progress or impact: SEP resulted in important changes in the Chilean school system. Although the programme is voluntary, around 85% of the 9 000 eligible schools participated in 2011. All municipal schools and about 66% of private subsidised schools are actively engaged. This high coverage has changed the relationship between schools and the Ministry of Education and has helped improve its regressive funding structure. Although some schools were reticent to accept the conditions imposed by the agreement, most schools have welcomed the new resources, as well as the clear pedagogical goals and diagnostic tools tailored to help meet them. Studies show positive effects on student performance. In 2015, SEP served 94% of all municipal schools (including 99% of those providing basic education) and 50% of private subsidised schools (including 75% of those providing basic education). It is not possible to convincingly estimate the effects on student learning in public schools, since participation in SEP is almost universal. However, research has found some positive effects of SEP on private subsidised schools, such as an increase in standardised student assessment scores on average and larger increases for schools with more significant enrolment of low-income students (OECD, 2013; Santiago, 2017). In recent years, the SEP Law increased its resources by 20% for the education of the most vulnerable students of the system (defined as "priority students"). In addition, the preferential school subsidy was created for "preferential students". Schools that are in SEP and do not charge a co-payment receive it for each student who belongs to the poorest 80% of the country and is not "priority" (MINEDUC, 2015).
Additional education policies of potential interest to other countries
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Chile has been seeking to strengthen the ECEC system (2014-18) by updating curricula and setting quality standards, increasing coverage capacity, improving teaching and adopting new standards for infrastructure. Other important elements related to ECEC are that educators will be considered part of the general teaching body as of 2025 and Chile has created the Undersecretariat of Early Childhood Education and the Intendancy of Preschool Education (Intendencia de Educación Parvularia).
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The School Inclusion Law (Ley de Inclusión Escolar, LIE Law No. 20.845, 2015) ends for-profit operation, student selection and tuition fees in primary and secondary education in schools that receive public subsidies. It regulates the administration of schools managed by private third parties and creates conditions that ensure equal access for students, focusing on the preferences of families, not their income. This law will be implemented over a period of four years (2016-20).
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The New Public Education Law (Nueva Educación Pública, 2017), aims to create and consolidate a national public education system through the development of 70 local education services. These education services will be in charge of technical-pedagogical and administrative-financial matters related to schools and early childhood education centres managed by municipalities. Their main areas of work will include: student learning, teacher quality, curriculum implementation and innovation, school environments and the development of tools for different contexts. They will also be charged with linking education to the social context and developing specific skills that may be needed regionally and may be connected to higher education (OECD, 2017c).
Tuition-free higher education (Gratuidad) began in 2016, giving free tuition to students in the lowest five income deciles who enrol in the 25 universities of the Consejo de Rectores de las Universidades Chilenas (CRUCH). In 2017, over 250 000 students from the first five income deciles did not pay tuition in high-quality higher education institutions. This includes students from VET institutions, which tend to concentrate a higher proportion of low-income students. In 2018, Gratuidad was expanded to students from the lower six income deciles. In 2018, the new law to reform higher education guaranteed institutional financing for Gratuidad and mandated a gradual increase of its coverage, subject to economic growth and an increase in tax collection. The law indicates that only higher education institutions that meet certain criteria will be eligible for Gratuidad (accreditation at an advanced level, being a non-profit legal entity, being part of the Access System, and implementing inclusion policies). An OECD review recommended that efforts should focus on evidence-based measures and should target support to students facing greater barriers. According to this review, steps should be taken as well to strengthen recruitment and admissions processes at higher education institutions, and to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds so that they can be successful during their studies. In order to continue strengthening access to and quality of higher education, the OECD recommended that the government ensures in the medium-to-long term that the free tuition Gratuidad programme will complement investments to strengthen earlier levels of education without diverting resources and addresses cost control challenges – and without limiting the number of places for students in participating higher education institutions or introducing crowding and new forms of student segregation. In addition, the Chilean government should work to help students to access financial aid more easily, strengthen need-based targeting and ensure that more students receive sufficient resources to cover their costs (OECD, 2017c).
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The reform also established a new Access System (Sistema de Acceso) for higher education. This new system is meant to be objective and transparent and will operate through a dedicated electronic platform, administrated by the Undersecretary of Higher Education. It is comprised of two technical committees (one for universities and one for VET institutions), which include the rectors of different types of higher education institutions and the Undersecretary of Higher Education. These committees will define the processes and instruments to be applied. However, the higher education institution will be able to set the admission and selection requirements in each programme. In order to participate in the Gratuidad programme, universities and VET institutions (both IPs and CFTs) will have to be part of this Access System, but institutions that are not in Gratuidad can choose to participate.
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The National VET Policy (Política Nacional de Formación Técnico-Profesional, 2016) aims to develop a VET system that is better linked to social, productivity and labour needs in each region and in the country overall. The VET policy also links with enterprises and training institutions. Four key elements define this policy: 1) increasing VET quality through the creation of 15 CFTs across the country, learning assessments at upper secondary VET institutions and guidelines for equipment needed for specific courses; 2) focusing on competitiveness, entrepreneurship and innovation, through the creation of centres for technological learning and a VET qualifications framework; 3) developing successful education and labour pathways through the +Capaz programme, the Programme for Support and Effective Access (which primarily works with universities and some VET higher education institutions), as well as forging better connections between upper secondary VET and regional CFTs; and 4) improving governance of the VET system, by defining an institutional framework for VET in the Education Ministry, creating an advisory board for VET and public and private boards (directorios) in state technical training centres.
More information available at: www.oecd.org/education/policyoutlook.htm.