Statement by Kishore Singh, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to education, at the conclusion of his visit to the Republic of Chile - 28 March to 4 April 2016

Santiago de Chile, 4 April 2016

Members of the press, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to start by sincerely thanking the Government of Chile for inviting me to visit the country to look into the right to education at a time of unprecedented transformations in the national education landscape.

During my 8 day visit, which was my first official visit to Chile, it was a special honour for me to have a dialogue with President Michelle Bachelet. I had the opportunity to meet Adriana Delpiano, Minister of Education, as well as Marcos Barraza, Minister of Social Development. It was my pleasure to dialogue with the President and members of the Constitutional Tribunal. I met with representatives in the Education Commission of Congress, as well as with senior Government officials in Santiago and Antofagasta. I also met with the National Institute for Human Rights and with civil society organizations. I visited a pre-school, a primary public school, a technical secondary school and a high school, and met with administrators, educators, students, parents and teachers. In addition, I met with university professors and management.

I would like to warmly thank all those who received me, and who took the time to share their experiences in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation. I would also like to thank the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Santiago and Geneva for their support in preparing for and conducting this country visit.

Today I am here to share some of my initial impressions. I will limit myself to preliminary remarks on my findings. I will be analyzing in more detail the issues in education in the report on my visit which will be presented later to the Human Rights Council.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Chile is going through an historic period of transition in education, embodying the vision of President Bachelet, and I would like to pay tribute to her for ushering in far-reaching reforms which recognize education as a right, and not as a commodity. It is most commendable that Chile has embarked on undoing the devastating impact of 30 years of market-based policies in education, which have led to high levels of school segregation and stratification. The current reforms seek to dismantle the underlying neoliberal economic policies and restore education as a public service through new, socially just and equity-focused legislation. These are significant steps towards a paradigm change in education, which is aimed at doing away with deeply entrenched segregation and discrimination in education.

My visit is opportune when the implementation process of the Inclusive Education Act No. 20.845 has just begun. It contains a commitment to progressively and completely eradicate ‘for-profit’ education before the end of 2017. The Act eliminates the selection process in the admission process of schools in recognition of the right to education as entitlement without discrimination or exclusion. It also puts an end to “co-payments” or fees charged to parents and families, in addition to the subsidies private schools receive from the State. The Act is of paramount importance in safeguarding the right to education against the forces of privatization, and preserving education as a public good in line with not only the constitutional obligations of Chile, but with her international obligations under international human rights conventions. We must always remember that the denial of access to education on the basis of social status or economic situation or property is discriminatory and forbidden under international human rights laws. I consider that the historic reforms pushed forward by the current Government are unprecedented, as they are clearly triggering a paradigmatic national change in Chile that has gone through three decades of a process of privatization. It is understandable that the current reform measures will encounter resistance from vested interests.

In Chile, the legacy of the dictatorship and the associated long and deep process of privatization in education left a distorted but entrenched perception of education as a commodity. Market forces in education have been allowed in the name of freedom of teaching. In my discussions, including with the Constitutional Tribunal, I underlined the importance and need to better understand the freedom of teaching, with all its limits.

Freedom of teaching must be understood in terms of the liberty of parents and guardians to ensure the religious and moral education of their children, in conformity with their own convictions. The liberty of individuals and bodies to establish and direct educational institutions is not unfettered. As provided for in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 13, § 3 and 4), such freedom of education is subject to compliance with “minimum standards” in education, to which all private educational institutions are required to conform, in line with provisions in international human right instruments. The failure to do so constitutes a violation of the right to education. Freedom of teaching does not give the freedom to any provider of education to undermine education as a public good, or to make it subservient to private interests to the detriment of the social responsibility of education. It is not opposed to the public provision of education as a core and overriding responsibility of the State. The State remains the guardian of the right to education in all circumstances.

During my discussion with the Constitutional Tribunal, I was very pleased to hear about its ruling in favour of the Inclusive Education Act No. 20.845 of 2015. Following the request by some members of Congress to declare the Act unconstitutional in the name of freedom of teaching, which is also included in the Chilean Constitution in the same article 19 that also guarantees the right to education, the Tribunal determined that “regulating the right to education does not violate freedom of teaching” and that “freedom of teaching is not an end in itself, but a means to ensure the right to education.” In other words, the Tribunal prioritized, in line with Chile’s international obligations, the right to education over the freedom of teaching. 

Chile has adopted new laws in several key areas to give shape to the reforms. This constitutes a good example in the context of the education goal of the Sustainable Development Agenda, which was adopted at the United Nations Summit in September 2015.  At the adoption of the Incheon Declaration (May 2015) and the Framework for Action for its implementation at UNESCO (November 2015), and in keeping with the Sustainable Development Agenda, ministers of education from all over the world, including Chile, committed themselves to modernize their legislation to ensure that by 2030 all girls and boys will receive free, equitable and inclusive quality education until the secondary level, and to promote lifelong learning opportunities.

It was a pleasure for me to learn that my official visit coincided with the adoption of Act 20.911 that creates the Civic Education Plan for accredited educational establishments. The purposes of the plan includes promoting students’ knowledge and understanding, with a commitment to human rights recognized by the Constitution of Chile and by international treaties signed and ratified by Chile. The Act is commendable as it values ethics for strengthening development with a vision where the human being is central.

I also learned about Act 20.903 that creates a system for teachers’ professional development, which is intrinsically linked to quality in education. The Act will allow for improvements not only in teachers’ development, impacting on the quality of education, but also on the value that society attaches to teaching profession.  With a new selection process, a teacher will be better accredited and qualified, and will receive higher salaries. Teachers are the custodians of quality education. Pursuant to this Act, I hope the teaching profession will become more attractive, and socially better esteemed. 

I was extensively briefed by national and local authorities about the Bill on the National System on Public Education, colloquially referred to by many as “des-municipalización,” or de-municipalisation. The Bill which is still in discussion in Congress is a significant piece of legislative reform, and I hope it is enacted soon. The main purpose is to regain national control over education management that was decentralized during the dictatorship to municipalities. Due to the great variation among municipalities in terms of their capacity, political will and professional skills, amongst others, the municipal system of education led to great disparities in quality between schools.. The Act will create a national education system of uniform quality, within the overall responsibility of the national government to provide better management, while retaining decentralized implementation at the municipal level.

I also learned about other programmes and measures including PACE (Programa de Acompañamiento y Acceso Efectivo) which targets discrimination by accompanying and guaranteeing access to university for the 15% of students that perform best within their own school context; this is a welcome development. So is the revision of education curricula toward a more integrated education project which looks at technical and vocational skills development, and values including integration and social coexistence and the increasing role of the Superintendent and the Agency on Quality in ensuring both accountability and quality.

The challenges in promoting quality education are huge. Privatization in education has thrived on false propaganda, leading to the belief that for-profit private education provides better quality education. The findings of the OCED have dispelled such misconceptions.  Despite claims of being better, I am told that some private schools have poor buildings, and the use of short term contracts and young, lower cost teachers damages the teaching profession.  These schools are not a model for a modern country like Chile.

Today there is widespread concern with skills development, and I was briefed about the efforts by the Ministry of Labour to increase training in cooperation with the private sector to create opportunities not only to certify skills, but to link training for job programmes within the education system. Such innovative approaches are useful for creating opportunities for employment, entrepreneurship and the emerging needs for life-long learning.  Stronger linkages between technical education institutions and enterprises are necessary for making the system better able to contribute to the industrial and socio-economic development of the country.

The proposed higher education reform is still being drafted, and I understand that it will increase institutional capacity to absorb the increasing number of students and improve the quality, capacity and funding of higher education institutions. I was pleased to learn about plans to open two public universities in regions that did not have one: O’Higgins and Aychén. I understand that significant support will be given to vulnerable and marginalized students to enable them to access higher education. I was also pleased to learn about the upcoming opening of 15 public technical education centres, one in each region of Chile. This fills in an existing gap in tertiary level public education as to date all existing technical training centres are private. Today, many countries are engaged in promoting excellence in skills training, and the establishment of new technical education centres by the Ministry of Education is a commendable initiative.

The recent education reforms were motivated in part by students protesting the high cost of university education. While for-profit educational institutions have been prohibited by law since long ago, its actual enforcement had not been implemented. Presently, higher education in Chile, mostly private, is very expensive. It is clear that in the spirit of reforms, for-profit interests in universities should no longer be allowed, and high tuition fees should be reduced.

Higher education reform should fully take into account the internationalization of higher education, and its repercussions on Chile. Questions related to the accreditation of higher education institutions, as well as the recognition of degrees and qualifications, are important to consider with the participation of the academic community and students. Consideration also needs to be given to striking a balance between the autonomy of universities and their social functions, considering that a large number of universities in Chile are private.

Education reform has also addressed pre-school education to increase capacity in order to provide for the needs for new mothers that work and study, as well as other vulnerable groups including children with disabilities. These reforms should, however, follow the international standards set up by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability to effectively remove any barriers by advancing inclusive education.

During my meetings I also learned about the bill on the rights of the child, which also addressed education. I was informed that this will make it possible to provide sufficient financial resources to give all children equal opportunity to access pre-school education. It pays particular attention to vulnerable children, including children with disabilities. Primacy is being given to this by creating a new high level Inter-Ministerial Institutional Council to guarantee the rights of the child in Chile, including an Ombudsperson for this purpose.

Reforms aimed at inclusive education also need to address guaranteeing the right to education of indigenous people, of migrants and of refugees. I was pleased to visit the high school for men “Liceo para hombres” in Antofagasta, where actually both girls and boys study, and which constitutes an excellent example of inclusive education that does not admit of discrimination or exclusion, with a higher number of foreigners than nationals enrolled, and with integration programmes and more creative pedagogical techniques.
 
The changes in cultural perception are important for building a new, integrated society that attaches no stigma to pluralism and inclusion. The Act that creates the Civic Education Plan in accredited educational establishments recognizes the need for fostering social and cultural responsibility, and I hope that its implementation will also lead to programmes for promoting indigenous languages and culture.

Putting an end to for-profit education must encompass the entire education system, and all providers of education. As many private providers seek to maximize the profits from education, strict rules and regulations are required to control revenue accruing to private schools, especially by way of fees imposed. Otherwise, access to education is jeopardized. Public authorities can establish maximum permissible fees to be charged by private providers, with a ban on raising those fees without prior approval. It is also important to look into public procurement policies and their applicability to private providers in education. The State is the legitimate authority, enjoying full prerogatives for exercising regulatory power covering all aspects of the education system. Private education must be strictly regulated, bearing in mind the principles and norms underpinning the right to education and the State’s responsibility under human rights law.

No private provider should be allowed to reduce education to a business and make it a commodity. The regulatory framework should be prescriptive, prohibitive as well as punitive so that private providers abide by the law, and do not violate the norms and principles of the right to education. Financial fraud and covert corrupt practices in education must be rigorously investigated with transparency and full accountability, and those found guilty of indulging in such practices must be brought to justice. 

In my meetings with all the public authorities, I raised the question of devoting maximum resources to education. This is a responsibility of States under human rights law, all the more so as education is not only a right in itself, but also essential for the exercise of all other human rights. Public policies and schemes can be devised to harness the corporate sector to assume their social responsibility, and to contribute to domestic resources for education, as is the case in several countries. 

I understand that subsidies to private schools will continue, while progressively eliminating profit making in education subsidised by State by the end of 2017.   I also understand that Government will inject more funds into higher education, including in technical higher education. The Government will need to devote much more resources to education to expand good quality public education. If good quality public education, which is core responsibility of the State, is freely available, there is no reason why any parent would want to opt for private education.

The provision of resources for education is indispensable for giving full effect to reforms. Tax reforms are an important step in that direction. When Chile has adopted a number of new education laws, a law on financing education would be important to ensure that the reform process is not constrained by a lack of resources. A legal framework for financing education would make it possible to devote the necessary resources to education on an enduring and sustainable basis.

Let me say before concluding that education is not a privilege of the rich and well-to-do. We must support the efforts undertaken by Chile for changing the current education system and for planting the seed for future cultural change that clearly identifies education as a human right, and no longer as a commodity.  Education is an inalienable right of every child. The international community, the United Nations and we all should not miss the opportunity to support Chile’s laudable efforts towards the effective realization of the right to education. The principles of social justice and equity should be kept in the forefront in the pursuit of reforms ushered into the education system for building a better Chile for the present and future generations.

Thank you.