Government presents the main measures of the 2023 Educational Reactivation Plan

Chile’s President Gabriel Boric Font and Education Minister Marco Antonio Ávila this morning presented the main measures of the 2023 Educational Reactivation Plan (Plan de Reactivación Educativa). They will focus on three key areas: coexistence and mental health; strengthening learning and teaching conditions; and attendance and re-enrolment of students excluded from the system. As a fourth measure, they presented the Council for Educational Reactivation (Consejo para la Reactivación Educativa), through which the Government will unite efforts to implement the measures and enhance the plan in the medium and long term. 

The first measure expands the coexistence and mental health program. Psychological support will be provided to 100 priority municipalities, in partnership with universities and coexistence teams, benefiting more than 2,100 educational establishments and more than 1,200,000 students. This increases its scope compared to 2022, when this program reached 60 municipalities. In addition, the Education Ministry will continue to expand the Life Skills (Habilidades para la Vida) psychosocial support program implemented through the National Board for Student Aid and Scholarships (JUNAEB), reaching more than 3,000 establishments. It will also continue to provide guidance and training in socio-emotional development and mental health for teaching teams and education assistants, in partnership with the Health Ministry, and will carry out an evaluation and update of the National Coexistence Policy. 

The second measure presented was the strategy for those lagging behind in their reading skills, in the area of strengthening learning. This includes providing all educational establishments in the country with a Pedagogical Support Kit to aid those lagging behind. It also includes a diagnostic evaluation that will be developed by the Education Quality Agency and Education Ministry teams, and will be made available as a training tool for schools. The Education Ministry will also send resources and materials, which include orientations, guides, videos and other pedagogical tools to address working with students who cannot read from 2nd to 4th grade. At the same time, a national campaign will bring together more than 20,000 tutors to work in a focused manner with students between 2nd and 4th grade to encourage reading, writing and communication skills. Work will also be carried out through tutorial sessions for all other levels, with an interdisciplinary focus on educational reactivation. Additionally, initiatives will be developed to strengthen learning, such as the expansion of the Educational Innovation Network, pedagogical resources will be made available for reactivating language and mathematics, free teacher training courses will be made available, and workshops on integral development will be held. 

In addition to the near $88 billion Chilean pesos (US$107 million) assigned in 2022 to finance almost 500 emergency infrastructure projects, this year close to $100 billion pesos (US$121 million) will be made available for new projects, and to continue moving forward with digital connectivity. 

The third measure is the formation of territorial teams for attendance and re-enrolment. It includes the deployment of professionals and coordinators in all of Chile’s municipalities, in order to bring students back to the classroom and promote systematic attendance in the classroom. 

Council for Educational Reactivation 

As a fourth measure, they announced the conformation of the Council for Educational Reactivation. It will be a cross-disciplinary space made up of 23 representatives from the educational, political and civil society sectors, as well as international organizations. It will contribute to addressing the challenge of educational reactivation, providing recommendations directly to the Education Ministry. 

It will provide recommendations to the Education Ministry to enhance the Educational Reactivation Plan, through a short and long-term perspective focused on three areas: 1) coexistence and mental health; 2) strengthening learning and teaching conditions; and 3) attendance and re-enrolment. The council will create a report that will consolidate its recommendations; it will be presented during the first semester of 2023. 

Counsellors 

The Council for Educational Reactivation will be made up of 23 counsellors belonging to civil society organizations, international organizations, universities, local authorities, former state ministers and parliamentarians. 

• Yasna Provoste, Senator and Chair of the Senate Education Committee. 
• Juan Santana, Deputy and President of the Chamber of Deputies Education Commission. 
• Claudia Uribe, Director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Latin America and the Caribbean in Chile.
• Paolo Mefalopulos, UNICEF Representative in Chile. 
• Ignacio Briones, former Treasury Minister and Chairman of the Board of the Centro de Estudios Horizontal. 
• Adriana Delpiano, former Education Minister, National Assets Minister and then National Women’s Service Minister. 
• Ricardo Díaz, next President of the National Regional Governors Association. 
• Carolina Leitao, Mayor and President of the Chilean Municipalities Association (ACHM). 
• Gustavo Alessandri, Mayor and President of the Municipalities Association of Chile (AMUCH). 
• Jaime Escudero, Mayor and President of the Rural Mayors Association of Chile. 
• Rosa Devés, Rector of the Universidad de Chile
• Ignacio Sánchez, Rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
• Juan Mansilla, President of the CRUCH Council of Deans of the Faculties of Education (CONFAUCE). 
• Carlos Díaz, President of the College of Teachers of Chile. 
• María Victoria Peralta, first kindergarten teacher awarded the National Educational Sciences Award. 
• Pedro Díaz, President of the Federation of Private Education Institutions (FIDE). 
• Hernán Herrera Russell, President of the National Corporation of Private Schools of Chile (CONACEP). 
• Pedro Larraín, CEO of Fundación Belén Educa. 
• Víctor Reyes, Rector of the San Nicolás Polyvalent Bicentennial High School.  
• Víctor Orellana, Director of Fundación Nodo XXI and researcher at the Universidad de Chile Center of Advanced Research in Education. 
• Marcela Marzolo, representative for the alliance of civil society organizations “Acción Colectiva por la Educación.” 
• Carolina Andueza, representative for the alliance of civil society organizations “Por un Chile que Lee.” 
• Angeline Morgado, President of the first Education Ministry Civil Society Council, made up only of students.