Overview of Education System
The Chilean educational system is governed by the Quality Assurance System, which has the mandate of guaranteeing good quality education for all students. To achieve this, the system uses evaluation, inspection, and supervision, and the provision of guidance and constant support to every school. The system comprises the Ministry of Education, the Superintendence of Education, the National Council of Education, and the Educational Quality Agency.b,5
The Ministry of Education is the central institution of the system. Its purpose is to implement educational policy through the granting of official recognition to schools, defining regulations, providing funding, and creating and supporting educational resources, standards of learning, and pedagogical technical advice. The Superintendence of Education monitors the accomplishment of educational regulations and imposes sanctions. The National Council of Education approves and informs the national curriculum, standards of learning, and national and international assessment plans. Finally, the Education Quality Agency evaluates and monitors learning achievements and the indicators of personal and social development. It also provides guidance to the schools to foster quality education for all, reduce learning gaps, and attain more inclusive education.6
As of 2015, 11,931 schools were serving 3.5 million students in Chile. These schools are divided into groups depending on their administrative status: public schools (which account for 44.2 percent of all schools and enroll 36.9 percent of all students), private subsidized schools (50.8 percent of schools, enrolling 55.3 percent of students), and paid private schools (5 percent of schools, enrolling 7.8 percent of students). Public schools are managed by local governments (municipalities) and are funded by the state. Private subsidized schools are managed by private entities and are funded by the state; these schools can be free of charge or have a shared structure of funding in which families and the state provide funds.c Paid private schools are managed by private entities and funded exclusively by families. The Ministry of Education officially recognizes all of these educational institutions as long as they accomplish the Ministry’s requirements, and parents can choose among them for their children’s education.d,7
Chile’s current school system consists of eight years of basic education (educación básica), which combines primary and lower secondary education (Grades 1 to 8), and four years of high school (educación media), which corresponds to upper secondary education (Grades 9 to 12). Basic education starts when students are 6 years old.8 Since 2015, kindergarten has become compulsory, making a total of 13 years of compulsory education.
Schools offer primary and lower secondary education (basic education), upper secondary education (high school), or both (complete schooling). Some schools offer only Grades 7 to 12, and others, mainly small rural schools, offer only Grades 1 to 4 or Grades 1 to 6. Schools with upper secondary education offer humanistic-scientific education, technical professional education (vocational), or both (polyvalent). These tracks start at Grade 11, when curricula differentiate. Some schools offer specific artistic education. Schools that teach students with special needs are provided with extra human and technical resources in addition to specific knowledge and assistance.9
The Ministry of Education is responsible for developing the national curriculum, which determines the mandatory fundamental objectives and the minimum content to be taught in each grade and subject in all schools. It also develops the study plans and guides teaching. The national curriculum must be approved by the National Council of Education, which is independent from the Ministry. However, schools are free to decide how to implement the curriculum and may include additional educational objectives, content, and programs with prior approval of the Ministry of Education. In basic education (primary and lower secondary), there is one common curriculum for mathematics and science because all students at this level follow the same track. In upper secondary education, there is one common curriculum for Grades 9 and 10 but different curricula for Grades 11 and 12, depending on whether students follow the humanistic-scientific or technical professional track.10
- b Law No. 20.529 created El Sistema Nacional de Aseguramiento de la Calidad de la Educación Parvularia, Básica y Media y su fiscalización (The National System of Quality Assurance of Early Childhood, Primary, and Secondary Education and its control).
- c A recently passed law is intended to eliminate the payment from families in private subsidized schools. These schools will receive more public funding that must be reinvested into schools. Law No. 20.845 was implemented in 2016 and will increasingly be applied in all private subsidized schools.
- d Fewer public establishments (about 70) are managed under the Executive Management System (Sistema de Administración Delegada), which is administered by several corporations and nonprofit foundations.