We’ve learned about Chile’s entrepreneurial environment providing you with an easy way to start your business, but what about Chile’s education. Well, let’s start off with the fact that it is not cheap. Chile’s has one of the most expensive education systems in the world with students barely being able to pay off their loans when they graduate. This high cost for education is in large part due to Augusto Pinochet, a Chilean dictator who privatized most of Chile’s public school system.
Since 2006, students have held protests all around Chile demanding free higher education. They called these protests the Penguin Revolution because students would wear black and white uniforms as a sign of dissent and objection. Protests ceased and resurged in May 2011, gaining strength and lasting 3 years. This was a nationwide movement that in its peak had around 800K students in the streets protesting and more than three quarters of Chile’s population showing support towards the nation’s education system.
Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s current president, is Chile’s new hope towards achieving a new, more accessible education system. In March 2016, Bachelet’s new policies will grant 170K students access to free education. A big reason for this is Bachelet’s raise in corporate taxes which will yield an additional $8.2B in revenue for the government. Though this all looks promising, tuition prices remain the same for those who do not fall under the low-income range, and student advocates continue to fight for the access to free education. Chile has taken a big step towards giving people more access to education, but it still has a long way to go to achieve free education. Hopefully this greater access to education will allow the country to yield more entrepreneurs and people with the necessary knowledge to make the most out of Chile’s economy and resources.
http://www.attn.com/stories/836/chile-makes-college-tuition-free
http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/7859
Since 2006, students have held protests all around Chile demanding free higher education. They called these protests the Penguin Revolution because students would wear black and white uniforms as a sign of dissent and objection. Protests ceased and resurged in May 2011, gaining strength and lasting 3 years. This was a nationwide movement that in its peak had around 800K students in the streets protesting and more than three quarters of Chile’s population showing support towards the nation’s education system.
Michelle Bachelet, Chile’s current president, is Chile’s new hope towards achieving a new, more accessible education system. In March 2016, Bachelet’s new policies will grant 170K students access to free education. A big reason for this is Bachelet’s raise in corporate taxes which will yield an additional $8.2B in revenue for the government. Though this all looks promising, tuition prices remain the same for those who do not fall under the low-income range, and student advocates continue to fight for the access to free education. Chile has taken a big step towards giving people more access to education, but it still has a long way to go to achieve free education. Hopefully this greater access to education will allow the country to yield more entrepreneurs and people with the necessary knowledge to make the most out of Chile’s economy and resources.
http://www.attn.com/stories/836/chile-makes-college-tuition-free
http://www.americasquarterly.org/node/7859