Presidential commanders debated the challenges of the school system at the UC Education Center.

In its second meeting, "2025 Presidential Elections at the UC: Debates for a New Government Cycle" addressed the main challenges regarding education for the coming years.

The second meeting of the series "Presidential Elections 2025 at the UC: Debates for a New Government Cycle" was held last Thursday, October 9th at the UC School of Education. This initiative seeks to open dialogue around major national issues and encourage informed voting by the university community. Organized by the Public Policy Center and the Faculty of Education, the debate —moderated by the Dean Alejandro Carrasco— addressed the main challenges of the Chilean education system with representatives from the Evelyn Matthei, Jeannette Jara, and José Antonio Kast commands.

Education on the public agenda

The day began with the exhibition of Verónica Cabezas, professor at the UC Faculty of Education and executive director of at Elige Educar, who presented a diagnosis of the main problems within the education system. In his speech, he highlighted the issue's absence from public debate, despite the fact that citizens consider it a priority, and called for "putting education back at the center of political conversation."

Cabezas highlighted challenges such as post-pandemic learning recovery, the reading comprehension gap—where nearly half of fourth-grade students cannot understand age-appropriate texts—and the need to strengthen teacher training and support. She also addressed inequality in early childhood education, the bureaucratic burden faced by schools, and the rise in school violence, noting that “one in ten teachers leaves the system in their first year, and 60% of students report having experienced verbal or physical violence at school.”

The proposals of the presidential commands

In the first round, the invited speakers presented their respective leadership's main educational proposals. Representing Evelyn Matthei's candidacy, Magdalena Vergara, a lawyer and former director of IdeaPaís, focused her remarks on fundamental learning. She proposed that all children learn to read and write in first grade and highlighted four priority areas: early childhood education, learning recovery, school coexistence, and strengthening technical and vocational education. Among the first proposed measures, she mentioned restoring school attendance to pre-pandemic levels and implementing re-entry schools for students who had dropped out of the system.

On behalf of Jeannette Jara's administration, Emilia Schneider, a representative and member of the Education Committee, proposed three structural pillars: education with safe spaces, comprehensive quality education, and fair education. Her proposal includes the creation of 70 public high schools of excellence, a national school mental health plan, a decent infrastructure policy, and the implementation of the technical committee's recommendations on the School Admission System (SAE).

Meanwhile, Cristina Tupper, a representative of José Antonio Kast's administration, highlighted the need to reduce bureaucracy in the education system and "give teachers back the time and conditions to teach." She emphasized the focus on early childhood education—"reversing the funding gap between kindergartens"—and on basic learning such as reading and math, along with ensuring safe environments for teachers to work.

The debate included a second round focused on legislative issues currently under discussion, such as school funding, the implementation of Local Public Education Services (SLEP), and adjustments to the School Admission System (SAE); and a third round focused on specific questions about government programs—including early childhood education, the teaching profession, and school coexistence.

Impressions

Ignacio Irarrázaval, director of the UC Center for Public Policy, emphasized that the Center is promoting spaces for dialogue and reflection on the major issues that will shape the next presidential cycle, contributing from academia with diagnoses and concrete proposals on topics such as housing, security, childhood, poverty, and others. "Education is an extremely relevant issue for the future of the country because it directly impacts social cohesion, opportunities, and development. As a university, we are very pleased to be able to contribute to the public debate through evidence and interdisciplinary knowledge," he added.

For his part, Dean Alejandro Carrasco noted that "the presidential debate was very valuable and significant at a paradoxical time, since while educational problems and challenges are pressing and jeopardize Chile's development, no presidential candidate has raised the issue in recent debates."

For this reason, he explains, the initiative to invite debate in partnership between the Center for Public Policy and the UC School of Education "promotes a highly relevant public conversation for future generations."