[ARCHIVO] President Bachelet: “We are democratizing opportunities for thousands of young people, and we are taking inclusion seriously”
President Michelle Bachelet, along with Education Minister Adriana Delpiano, this morning visited the technical professional school Liceo Comercial Insuco Chile in Santiago to address the new benefits of free education at higher education entities in 2017.
“We’ve opened up the path towards a free, quality university education. And it’s imperative that we do the same for Professional Institutes and Technical Education Centers. That is precisely what we have set out to do and, in fact, just a few days ago, all sectors agreed on some very important points in order to reach these goals,” stated President Bachelet in her opening words.
One of the benefits established in the policy on free education for 2017 includes cost-free education at Professional Institutes (PI) and Technical Education Centers (TEC). In order to qualify, the PIs and TECs must have been accredited for 4 years and be managed as a non-profit legal entity, whose controlling officers are prohibited from obtaining any financial gain.
Furthermore, the New Millennium scholarships will be maintained for students attending these institutions while the Bicentennial Scholarships will be extended to include universities that do not belong to the Rectors’ Council (CRUCH), but that have been accredited for 4 years, where 80% of their student body has rendered a minimum weighted admission score of 450 points.
At the same time, a special plan will be put into place to bolster state universities, provisioning them with fresh funds and initiating a long-term reinforcement plan, with support from the World Bank through loans and technical assistance.
And lastly, universities offering free education are poised to have a potential 2.7% minimum annual increase in the number of enrolled students over the previous year, with prior authorization from the ministries of Education and Finance.
This is particularly good news for students and their families, who will have more options to study for free at higher education entities. And if they attend a PI, a TEC or a university that is not within the scope of cost-free education, they will have access to scholarships, either at non-traditional universities or, as I mentioned, at a PI or a TEC,” said the President.
She added, “we are opening up roads where up until today we essentially had barriers. We are democratizing opportunities for thousands of youngsters, and we are taking inclusion seriously.