Ministry of Education

Nicolás Cataldo Astorga's portrait
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Nicolás Cataldo Astorga

EDUCATION MINISTER

Nicolás Cataldo Astorga holds a Degree in Pedagogy in History and Social Sciences from the Universidad de Valparaíso. He was a former student leader in the Federación de Estudiantes (Student Federation) at the Universidad de Valparaíso. 

He specializes in the design of public policy and legislative procedure, and has worked in public administration both at the central and local level. Between 2015 and 2018, he worked in the Education Ministry’s legislative team, where he was involved in processing bills related to the creation of the System of Professional Teacher Development, New Public Education and Higher Education, as well as laws to encourage teacher retirement and the Educational Assistants Statute. These initiatives formed part of the Educational Reform. 

From March 2022 to date, he has served as Education Undersecretary, where he has mediated the work between the Government, mayors and municipal heads of education in areas related to the financing system and transfer of local services. In this position, he has also been involved in developing local policy and municipal management.

Undersecretaries

Alejandra Arratia Martínez's portrait

Alejandra Arratia Martínez

EDUCATION UNDERSECRETARY

Alejandra Arratia Martínez holds a Degree in Psychology from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a PhD in Education from the University of Melbourne, Australia. She has served as executive director of Educación 2020 and has more than 25 years of experience in public sector education, in particular in curricular and evaluation policies.

She has worked in educational establishments both in Chile and the state of Victoria, Australia, as well as in international organizations as collaborator to the UNESCO International Bureau of Education in curriculums and technical cooperation.

Víctor Orellana Calderón's portrait

Víctor Orellana Calderón

HIGHER EDUCATION UNDERSECRETARY

Víctor Orellana Calderón holds a Degree in Sociology from the Universidad de Chile. He has served as director of Fundación Nodo XXI and researcher at the Center for Advanced Research in Education at the Universidad de Chile. He has also been a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the International Labor Organization (ILO).

His areas of research are the sociology of education and education and social structure.

Claudia Lagos's portrait

Claudia Lagos

EARLY EDUCATION UNDERSECRETARY

Claudia Lagos holds a Degree in Early Education from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, a Master’s in Education from the Universidad Academia de Humanismo Cristiano and a PhD in Education from the Instituto de Educación at the Universidad ORT, Uruguay.

In her last role, she worked as director of the Learning Evaluation Technical Unit at the Universidad Andrés Bello. Between 2019 and 2021, she held the position of national coordinator of Continuing Education at the Center for Improvement, Experimentation and Pedagogical Research, which reports to Chile’s Education Ministry.

Claudia Lagos has worked in the Chilean education system since 1994 as a classroom educator and coordinator of the Early Education cycle, in private and subsidized institutions. Prior to her current role, she served as executive director of Fundación Integra.