"Seamos Comunidad": Education Ministry presents comprehensive policy for educational reactivation that addresses consequences of pandemic

Education Minister Marco Antonio Ávila launched the Comprehensive Educational Reactivation Policy "Seamos Comunidad" (Let's be a Community) at the Melvin Jones Elementary School in Pudahuel. At the event, he gave details on the goals of the policy, which will be rolled out in different stages to deal with the consequences of the pandemic and two years of non-attendance. 

The activity took place alongside faculty members from the Melvin Jones Elementary School, representatives of international organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF and the Organization of Ibero-American States, Education Undersecretary Nicolás Cataldo, and Preschool Education Undersecretary María Isabel Díaz, as well as regional and community authorities and representatives of the Teachers' Association.

"We have only been in government for two months, we have budgetary limitations, and are going through a difficult economic period; however, this won’t be an impediment for us to present a Comprehensive Educational Reactivation Policy that can tackle challenges in the short, medium and long term. We understand the urgency of many of the difficulties faced by educational institutions,” Minister Ávila said about the "Seamos Comunidad" plan.

"Seamos Comunidad" seeks to address the effects of the pandemic among educational communities and their members in important areas like harmonious relations at school and mental health, the recovery of comprehensive learning, infrastructure improvement, connectivity and digital transformation, and keeping students in the educational system.

Measures

Implementation of the policy will begin this year with five urgent and concrete measures:

A program to strengthen harmonious relations at school will be created in 60 priority communities.

Territorial coverage for the Programa Habilidades para la Vida (Skills for Life Program) in secondary education will be quadrupled.

Agreements will be signed with education faculties to mobilize 10,000 student teachers so that they can tutor students or groups of students.

A reading and writing strategy for migrant students will be implemented, with a focus on early learning and second language teaching.

An infrastructure plan for the repair and recovery of educational spaces will be created, in addition to the educational establishment conservation plan.

Regarding the infrastructure plan, the Minister Ávila pointed out that "this, of course, is not the only solution, neither can it be achieved overnight. But it is our duty as a ministry, as a state, to permanently promote efforts to move decisively forward with the repair and improvement of educational centers. This is not a definitive solution, that is clear to us all, but it is a first step towards the dignity that our children and young people deserve".

Finally, the minister called on the country to make progress towards this great challenge: "The government and education workers' efforts alone will not be enough. We also need families. We need each other, we need to be a community. This is the only way to move forward”.

Priority actions and strategies 2022

Crisis assistance and harmonious relations at school program: the program will be implemented this year in 60 communities where the most serious examples of school violence have been observed. This work will be carried out with the advice of experienced universities that have developed research on harmonious relations at school. $1.5 billion Chilean pesos (US$1.8 million) will be allocated for the program's implementation this year.

Strengthening the Mental Health Program: The Skills for Life Program, a psychosocial intervention model that coordinates mental health procedures for children and young people, as well as for their parents or caregivers, and teachers, will be expanded. This year's goal is to increase secondary education services from 25 to 100 communities. For this purpose, $11 billion Chilean pesos (US$13.2 million) will be spent.

National tutoring program: A process of pedagogical accompaniment and mediation -personalized or in focus groups- will be carried out in response to the different educational needs of each child and adolescent, with the support of the community. To this end, a National Tutoring Program will be implemented, with the support of student teachers, which will seek to bring together 10,000 tutors this year to assist 50,000 students in the school system.

Reading and writing strategy: This considers the provision of methodological and didactic guidelines and strategies to reduce the large gap that has further increased due to the pandemic. In early childhood education, specific educational strategies will be incorporated to strengthen communication, taking into account both artistic and verbal language, as well as promoting the joy of reading.

Educational Facilities Reparation and Recuperation Plan 2022-2023: a plan for the urgent repair of the most deteriorated school infrastructure. The plan will benefit public education establishments that are at risk of the total or partial suspension of services due to infrastructure problems, such as sanitary, electrical and habitability problems, or poor safety conditions. With regards to communities with a lack of places for students, the plan will provide resources to revive rooms or other idle spaces, through interventions that will make more places available and help solve the enrollment coverage problem evidenced in several of the country's regions. This year, $10 billion Chilean pesos (US$12 million) will be made available for this plan.

Want to learn more about this Policy? Visit seamoscomunidad.mineduc.cl.