President Michelle Bachelet: “This law reaffirms our commitment to high-quality and inclusive public education”

Speaking in the Las Camelias patio at La Moneda Palace, President Michelle Bachelet, accompanied by Education Minister Adriana Delpiano, today signed a law creating 15 state technical training centers. This initiative is aimed at providing a valuable, public alternative for high-level technical training that will be adapted to each region’s development and production strategy, the technical training currently available, business requirements, and the needs of employees, students, and productive and social enterprises.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, the President said, “The creation of 15 state technical training centers across the country, with one in each region, fits the tone of this government, which is to fulfill a commitment we made to the public. But above all, this is a shared achievement”. President Bachelet added, “This law is based on the conviction that decentralization cannot wait any longer and that it is possible to achieve more integrated development in each of our regions”.

Highlighting the objective of the initiative, the President remarked, “It guides the talents and abilities of people in each region toward their territory’s productive and social needs. In other words, it provides regions with a tool that addresses those challenges”.

She also noted, “It is more important than ever to value and invest in high-quality technical education that is tailored to our country’s requirements.  It also creates new opportunities for employment, injecting dynamism into our economy in an equitable manner. The enactment of this law today is a very important step in this direction.”

“We have already seen how a new approach to education is emerging”, the President said, adding that “It is already evident that the results are promising, with concrete improvements such as free education, the end of for-profit education and preferential selection, better working conditions for teachers, and educational establishments that are once again a source of national pride”.

In concluding her speech, the President remarked, “This law begins the repayment of a debt that the state has owed to post-secondary technical education. We are taking up the challenge of bringing it to all corners of Chile, to create a genuine, high-quality alternative, so that young people from every region can fulfill their dreams and goals”.