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The hurdles faced by Bachelet to achieve her promise of reforming Chilean education
Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet legacy lives heavily in a country which has had a spectacular economic performance since the return of democracy, but remains lame in several social and political issues. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesFirst, the amazing economic performance started under the military Gvt. reaching up to 10% over a year and it declined under the left wing Gvts. to lower than 3% a year and recovered with the center right Gvt. of Mr. Piñera with numbers over 5% a year.
Sep 15th, 2013 - 07:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Second, even the permission to private unis started under the military Gvt. but reached it upper level under the Concertacion leftist Gvts. without any support to the students from those unis....It was fixed under Mr. Piñera Gvt. allowing those students to receive special loans for them as well as the state managed unis students.
So, it´s very poor what we can expect from a eventual Gvt. of Mrs. Chanchelet, specially when her Gvt. was one of the worst from the latest years and one of the reasons why the office changed to the center right coalition with Mr. Piñera as leader.....
I'm a true believer in reform and I think that Bachelet should indeed look at reforming government institutional legacies from an unelected government.
Sep 15th, 2013 - 09:59 pm - Link - Report abuse 0However, she will of course realise that these reforms could just as easily benefit other parties other than her's.
As for education. There is a lot to be said for a government promote educational access by all tiers of society. Education is an investment in future economic growth and government funding should reflect this. Educating a citizen so they are more productive, have a higher earning capacity and contribute more to economic growth is a wise investment that pays dividends back to the government and society.
There is a lot to be said for wealth transfer within a society and Australia practises that through out taxation system and our benefits system and also through our educational system.
Just because Chile has done so well, doesn't mean it can't do better. Developed country status does not come by continuing with the same systems that worked in the past. Perhaps it is time for Chile to reform to the next level.
Sergio
Sep 16th, 2013 - 01:01 am - Link - Report abuse 0Killing the poor is great for your economic stats.
Stop praising fascism, will you...
@3 How's Uruguay's record on education?
Sep 16th, 2013 - 06:31 am - Link - Report abuse 0Initially consisting of 6 years, the military increased it to 9 years around 1973. Just how many universities does Uruguay have? One? Two? How's the dropout rate now? Still 50% is it?
Hence we should praise fascism, you mean conq...?
Sep 16th, 2013 - 06:33 am - Link - Report abuse 0Chile endured 17 years of a dictatorship from 1973 and they bequeathed it a strong modern economy.
Sep 16th, 2013 - 08:23 am - Link - Report abuse 0Argentina had 14 years of dictatorship between 1966 and 1983 and they bequeathed them nothing.
Uruguay had 12 years of dictatorship from 1973 and they bequeathed them what exactly?
Chile got a rich country for all its pain.
Argentina lost the Falkland Islands for ever.
And Uruguay got rid of Stevie's family.
@6
Sep 16th, 2013 - 09:13 am - Link - Report abuse 0“And Uruguay got rid of Stevie's family.”
LOL
@3
“Killing the poor is great for your economic stats.”
Population of Chile in 1973 approx 10,000,000
Percentage of poor: approx 40%
Political deaths: 3000 (not all poor by a long way, but I'll be generous).
Therefore, percentage reduction in poverty due to killings, less than 0.08%. Not very effective.
The last 3 decades has seen sustained poverty reduction in Chile. Millions of people lifted out of poverty by good economic policy. You might not like our economic policy or its origins, but who cares. Even Bachelet whose father was one of the 3000 “poor” killed by Pinochet had the good sense to continue on the same road.
I am for the reform of education provided it is done with consensus and with budget responsibility.
3@ When you haven´t argument to answer your weapon is the disqualification....that´s the preferred way to act from that side because the times have demonstrated that their principles and doctrine is fake and useless...
Sep 16th, 2013 - 12:17 pm - Link - Report abuse 02 @ I´m a true believer on reforms but only if they means upgrade what we have....Years ago education and health in Chile were for free (not really, they were paid by tax contributors and wasted by non tax contributors), the quality and extension over the population were very much lower than both are at the present...The experience is that when something is for free no matter if you abuse of the system cause none is paying the bill (a dumb thinking very ingrained into the population).....
By the way, the primary and secondary education are for free in Chile and all dependant workers must have a health insurance through a state managed office or private system freely chosen.
Better is a mix of both systems were if you haven´t the resources to study (the 3erd stage) or to get health for catastrophic illness no covered by the own insurance the state must help with long term loans with low rate.
Chile, with the present system has more professionals and better health indicators than ever had, so we can expect a better result but it´s not by returning to the old that failed before......We must improve the quality of the teachers from the selection to the uni and perfecting them along their work, improve the health system by widening the illness spectrum covered and improving the medics during their service.....
Well, continue praising fascism then....
Sep 16th, 2013 - 01:20 pm - Link - Report abuse 0;)
6 Anglotino
Sep 16th, 2013 - 01:48 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“And Uruguay got rid of Stevie's family.”
True, but they were not murdered, and they are now back in Uruguay and receiving a pension.
I am all for sending more people to Uni as long as it doesn’t follow the social inclusion nonsense of New Labour under B. Liar and the cunt Brown who failed to realise that many people just do not have the intellect to be post graduates but DO have the intellect to be good at plumbing, carpentry and other artisan employment.
These vocational courses and the resulting output are just as important to the UK society as doctors are. No doctors: very ill people. No plumbers: possibly very ill people due to the spread of disease à la the Victorian era. What is required is a balanced approach that fits the need of the society we live in.
The result has been an influx of degree holders into commerce and industry with subjects such as “Media Studies” aka reading the Sun newspaper, but carrying massive debts from having to fund the courses themselves.
The UK is now desperately short of good carpenters, plumbers and electricians which the immigrants from Eastern European countries are filling but in many cases without the necessary knowledge and deaths are the result: electrocutions, asphyxiations (poor gas flues and incompetent repairs to gas equipment), etc.
Great life in the socially inclusive Britain of today. And Stevie wonders why I am dead against this commie / Marxist crap?
10@ You´r right....Now the whole youth only expect to go to the uni even they hand´t the intellect to be there......and the technician careers are forgotten.....
Sep 16th, 2013 - 02:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0A good technician is important to the society as the degree professionals is to be in a good balance....It´s better to spend the fiscal money in a balanced spectrum of good technicians that in a wrong mix of bad degree professionals.....In Chile, at least, we are missing more technologic high schools to start preparing the technicians we need urgently.....and start to pay them better salaries according their skills to encourage the youth to this future way to earn their life....
And, respect to Stevie, don´t care about him.....is just a silly leftist lost in the past that means nothing at all......
What exactly are the reforms proposed to the education system? Funny how the article does not mention them. The abolition of private education seems to be one of them, a totalitarian idea, as we all know, socialists hate freedom and competiton, and also the State being shown up as a lousy provider of services.
Sep 16th, 2013 - 02:21 pm - Link - Report abuse 0As for (partly East German educated) Bachelet's complaint about the Constitution allowing a minority to block the will of a majority, that is a fundamental safeguard against tyranny found, for example, in the US Constitution where amendments require a Convention of the States and a 2/3rd majority, or a 2/3rd vote in the Congress and the consent of 3/4 of the States. Why would she object to safeguards for freedom?
Basically, the Socialists are itching to roll back the reforms of the last 40 years and go back to Sept 10th 1973.
@9
Sep 16th, 2013 - 02:23 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Well, continue praising fascism then....”
I'm looking around for fascists. The closest thing I can see to an authoritarian, nationalistic and intolerant regime is CFK and her Brown-Shirts Light.
No such thing on this side of the Andes. I am quite sure Bachelet is a democrat not a fascist.
“Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet” I can't believe this... Are you ok Mercopress? Pinochetists don't like this, no no.
Sep 16th, 2013 - 03:39 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@13 ...and most of all, Bachelet is not a Pinochetist, that is the best part :)
@10 ChrisR
Sep 16th, 2013 - 09:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“ “And Uruguay got rid of Stevie's family.”
True, but they were not murdered, and they are now back in Uruguay and receiving a pension.”
So you're telling me that Stevie CHOOSES not to live in Uruguay but CHOOSES to live in a capitalist western developed society?
If it's not a political reason. It must be economic? Or social? No wonder he is so bitter, his own existence is an offront to his own beliefs.
As I am already planning my student exchange, seems I will be soon be living in South America. Perhaps I can then start speaking on behalf of all South Americans like Stevie does now.
What I do find funny is that Stevie and his cohorts especially in Argentina don't seem to castigate Uruguayan and Argentinean society for any legacies from their military dictatorships but Chile seems fair game.
Where is the outrage at current Argentine society that endured twice the number of murders by the government? CFK has moved to the far right on more than one occassion and on more than one issue.
Chilean society paid and also benefitted from their dictatorship. Argentina and Uruguay just paid because there seems to be no benefits. How well they wear their moral righteousness.
@14 Nostrils
Who is a Pinochetist?
Lack of love from the parents is a common denominator in every fascist and most of their followers.
Sep 17th, 2013 - 07:25 am - Link - Report abuse 0You lot are excused.
We understand, not your fault...
16 Stevie
Sep 17th, 2013 - 11:51 am - Link - Report abuse 0That is a despicable post.
You are starting to lose it again, remember how you had to stop for several months when you had the tag Guzz because you got out of hand?
“Lack of love from the parents is a common denominator in every fascist and most of their followers.”
Sep 17th, 2013 - 03:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0...but then Fat Max's unloved sister would be running BrownShirts Lite not Fat Max.
@Anglotino
“Argentine society that endured twice the number of murders ”
Try 10x. The Argie junta killed 30.000 . Their junta had not 1 redeeming feature, hence the reason they can't understand that Pinochet's legacy divides Chile.
As for Stevie, don't be to hard on him. He has nailed himself to a cross for us. Like Guzz before him, he suffers in Denmark so that one day we may be free from unsustainable economic growth and excessive economic freedom.
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