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role of education. That is critically important, as the humanistic mission of education is
being vitiated today.
69.
The quality of education depends on its content in terms of the curriculum. An
important feature of the education reforms in Chile is that all schools will be required to
operate within a national normative framework for quality. The framework will provide for
flexibility to adapt and contextualize curricula, with certification at each stage of education.
That will allow schools to adapt curricula to the diversity of students’ needs and cultural
contexts.
70.
The deployment of qualified and trained teachers with professional development is
indispensable for quality education. The Special Rapporteur welcomes Act No. 20.903
establishing a system for teachers’ professional development. The Act is expected to bring
about improvements in teachers’ development and the value that society attaches to the
teaching profession. With a new selection process, teachers are expected to be better
accredited and qualified, and to receive higher salaries.
71.
However, the Special Rapporteur notes with concern that nearly 20 per cent of all
teachers are contractual and community teachers in Chile. 16 That makes the teaching
profession precarious and results in its de-professionalization, which should not be allowed.
72.
The Special Rapporteur also notes some programmes that have recently been set up,
including a postgraduate programme for basic education teachers and an improvement
programme for technical-professional secondary school teachers.
VIII. Towards a legal framework for financing education
73.
The magnitude of the reforms at all levels of education demands huge resources.
The Special Rapporteur notes that the implementation of almost all the laws, policies and
programmes involved in the education reform requires fresh budgetary support. However,
according to information provided by the Ministry of Education, the resources devoted to
several key areas in 2015 were meagre, with 6 per cent of the national education budget
being allocated to improvements and renovations, 6 per cent to pedagogical support, 7 per
cent to improving management skills and only 3 per cent to fostering the educational
community’s participation in decision-making.
74.
The Government will have to inject much more funding into the education reform
process in order to, inter alia, expand access to good quality public education, provide free
textbooks and eventually ensure higher education free of cost.
75.
The Special Rapporteur commends President Bachelet for putting a premium on the
education agenda as regards its linkage with tax reforms to provide enhanced financial
resources for public education. That responds to the State’s responsibility under
international human rights law and the national Constitution to provide resources for the
realization of the right to education and is a notable example of mobilizing domestic
resources for education.
76.
Budget allocations for education need to have a firm and durable basis. A legal
framework is a crucial requirement for ensuring that political and financial support is
sustainable. Efforts to promote the expansion of education opportunities may fail if they are
not well anchored in a legal framework that guarantees sustained State investment in the
sector and recognizes the strategic importance of education as a foundation for human
development.
77.
Given that Chile has adopted new education laws, it is necessary for it to adopt a law
on financing education in order to ensure that the reform process is not constrained by a
lack of resources. Such a law could build on article 19 of the Constitution and on article 4
16
Education for All, “Global Monitoring Report 2013/4”, p. 257. Available at
www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/gmr-2013-14-teaching-and-learning-education-for-all-2014en.pdf.
13
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