MONGABAY.COM
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
|
|
Chile
Index
Despite plans dating back to 1812 to establish
widespread
primary education, elementary school attendance did not
become
compulsory until 1920. However, the government did not
provide
effective means to enforce this policy fully. There was
considerable progress, especially in the 1920s and the
1940s, but
by mid-century children of primary school age were still
not
universally enrolled. The principal difficulty lay in the
incomplete matriculation and high dropout rate of the
nation's
poorest children. For this reason, in 1953 the government
created
the National Council for School Aid and Grants (Junta
Nacional de
Auxílio Escolar y Becas), which was charged with providing
scholarships and with making school breakfasts and lunches
available to all children in the tuition-free private and
public
schools. Through these means, policy makers hoped to
encourage the
very poorest parents to send their children to school and
keep them
there. By the early 1970s, school breakfasts were reaching
64
percent of all primary school students, and lunches were
being
provided to 30 percent. This strategy was apparently
successful,
and in the mid-1960s, primary education became nearly
universal. In
1966 the number of years of primary (and therefore
compulsory)
education was increased from six to eight; secondary
education was
thereby reduced to four years. In the mid-1980s, primary
school
attendance fluctuated between 93 percent and 96 percent of
the
relevant age-group--a percentage that was less than
universal only
because some children advanced into secondary school at
the age of
fourteen instead of the normal age of fifteen.
Beginning in the first half of the nineteenth century,
Chile's
governments made an effort to create secondary schools and
led
Latin America in establishing high schools for girls as
well as for
boys. By 1931 Chile had forty-one state-run high schools
for boys
and thirty-eight for girls, as well as fifty-nine private
high
schools for boys and sixty for girls, with a total
enrollment of
20,211 boys and 15,014 girls. Reflecting French and German
influences on the nation's secondary education, high
schools were
intended to provide a rigorous preparation for university
education.
Chile had other postprimary educational channels that
were
meant to impart more practical or professional forms of
training.
Among these were normal schools for the instruction of
primary
school teachers (the first one for women was created in
1854),
agricultural schools (that taught the rudiments of
agronomy, animal
husbandry, and forestry), industrial schools (with such
specialties
as mechanics or electricity), commercial schools (with
specialties
in accounting and secretarial training), so-called
technical
women's schools (that mainly taught home economics), and
schools
for painting, sculpture, and music. In 1931 there were 135
of these
schools, with a total enrollment of 11,420 males and
11,391
females.
Matriculation of relevant age-groups in all forms of
secondary
education remained low, as can be surmised from the 1931
figures,
and progress was slow. The most rapid advances occurred in
the
1960s and early 1970s under the governments of presidents
Frei and
Allende, which increased spending for education at all
levels. By
1970 about 38 percent of all fifteen- to eighteen-year
olds in the
country had matriculated from one form or another of
secondary
education; by 1974 that figure increased to 51 percent.
Moreover,
the curriculum in schools other than high schools had been
enhanced
significantly, and the graduates of such schools could opt
to
continue on to university levels. During the rest of the
1970s,
under the military government's first six years in power,
secondary
school enrollments as a percentage of the relevant
age-group
stagnated. However, in the 1980s enrollments resumed their
upward
trend. Thus, from a level of 53 percent of the relevant
age-group
in 1979, secondary school matriculations rose to 75
percent in
1989.
Although the Chilean state traditionally directed about
half of
its education budget to universities that were either free
or
charged only nominal matriculation fees, the numbers of
students in
them had always been tiny as a proportion of the national
population between nineteen and twenty-four years of age.
As in
other areas of education, the Frei and Allende
administrations
sponsored the largest expansions in postsecondary
enrollments. The
total numbers of students (including only those in the
relevant
age-group) almost doubled, from 41,801 in 1965 to 70,588
in 1970,
and more than doubled from that number, to 145,663 in
1973.
However, these enrollment figures were only equal to about
8
percent and 13 percent of the relevant age-group in 1970
and 1973,
respectively. During the rest of the 1970s, the total
number of
students in universities declined, reaching a low of
around 9
percent of the relevant age-group in 1980, including
students
enrolled in the so-called Professional Institutes
(Institutos
Profesionales--IPs), which had been separated from the
universities
by the military government. During the 1980s, the numbers
of
students in universities and in the IPs increased slowly
and stood
at about 153,100 in 1989, or 10.3 percent of the relevant
agegroup . However, the military government fostered the
creation of
Technical Training Centers (Centros de Formación
Técnica--CFT) as
an alternative to postsecondary education. Enrollment in
these
centers increased rapidly during the 1980s, to about
76,400
students by 1989. In 1991 a total of 245,875 students were
in some
form of higher or postsecondary education.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, under the
influence
of German advisers, Chile began to develop preprimary
education.
Matriculation in these programs also remained very small
until the
1960s. In contrast to its attitude toward higher
education, the
military government took great interest in this form of
education,
and enrollments increased greatly during the Pinochet
years. Statefunded programs for preschoolers, which enrolled about
59,000
children in 1970, had increased their matriculation to
about
109,600 by 1974. In 1989 they enrolled 213,200 children,
or about
12 percent of the population under five years of age.
Data as of March 1994
Enrollments
Despite plans dating back to 1812 to establish
widespread
primary education, elementary school attendance did not
become
compulsory until 1920. However, the government did not
provide
effective means to enforce this policy fully. There was
considerable progress, especially in the 1920s and the
1940s, but
by mid-century children of primary school age were still
not
universally enrolled. The principal difficulty lay in the
incomplete matriculation and high dropout rate of the
nation's
poorest children. For this reason, in 1953 the government
created
the National Council for School Aid and Grants (Junta
Nacional de
Auxílio Escolar y Becas), which was charged with providing
scholarships and with making school breakfasts and lunches
available to all children in the tuition-free private and
public
schools. Through these means, policy makers hoped to
encourage the
very poorest parents to send their children to school and
keep them
there. By the early 1970s, school breakfasts were reaching
64
percent of all primary school students, and lunches were
being
provided to 30 percent. This strategy was apparently
successful,
and in the mid-1960s, primary education became nearly
universal. In
1966 the number of years of primary (and therefore
compulsory)
education was increased from six to eight; secondary
education was
thereby reduced to four years. In the mid-1980s, primary
school
attendance fluctuated between 93 percent and 96 percent of
the
relevant age-group--a percentage that was less than
universal only
because some children advanced into secondary school at
the age of
fourteen instead of the normal age of fifteen.
Beginning in the first half of the nineteenth century,
Chile's
governments made an effort to create secondary schools and
led
Latin America in establishing high schools for girls as
well as for
boys. By 1931 Chile had forty-one state-run high schools
for boys
and thirty-eight for girls, as well as fifty-nine private
high
schools for boys and sixty for girls, with a total
enrollment of
20,211 boys and 15,014 girls. Reflecting French and German
influences on the nation's secondary education, high
schools were
intended to provide a rigorous preparation for university
education.
Chile had other postprimary educational channels that
were
meant to impart more practical or professional forms of
training.
Among these were normal schools for the instruction of
primary
school teachers (the first one for women was created in
1854),
agricultural schools (that taught the rudiments of
agronomy, animal
husbandry, and forestry), industrial schools (with such
specialties
as mechanics or electricity), commercial schools (with
specialties
in accounting and secretarial training), so-called
technical
women's schools (that mainly taught home economics), and
schools
for painting, sculpture, and music. In 1931 there were 135
of these
schools, with a total enrollment of 11,420 males and
11,391
females.
Matriculation of relevant age-groups in all forms of
secondary
education remained low, as can be surmised from the 1931
figures,
and progress was slow. The most rapid advances occurred in
the
1960s and early 1970s under the governments of presidents
Frei and
Allende, which increased spending for education at all
levels. By
1970 about 38 percent of all fifteen- to eighteen-year
olds in the
country had matriculated from one form or another of
secondary
education; by 1974 that figure increased to 51 percent.
Moreover,
the curriculum in schools other than high schools had been
enhanced
significantly, and the graduates of such schools could opt
to
continue on to university levels. During the rest of the
1970s,
under the military government's first six years in power,
secondary
school enrollments as a percentage of the relevant
age-group
stagnated. However, in the 1980s enrollments resumed their
upward
trend. Thus, from a level of 53 percent of the relevant
age-group
in 1979, secondary school matriculations rose to 75
percent in
1989.
Although the Chilean state traditionally directed about
half of
its education budget to universities that were either free
or
charged only nominal matriculation fees, the numbers of
students in
them had always been tiny as a proportion of the national
population between nineteen and twenty-four years of age.
As in
other areas of education, the Frei and Allende
administrations
sponsored the largest expansions in postsecondary
enrollments. The
total numbers of students (including only those in the
relevant
age-group) almost doubled, from 41,801 in 1965 to 70,588
in 1970,
and more than doubled from that number, to 145,663 in
1973.
However, these enrollment figures were only equal to about
8
percent and 13 percent of the relevant age-group in 1970
and 1973,
respectively. During the rest of the 1970s, the total
number of
students in universities declined, reaching a low of
around 9
percent of the relevant age-group in 1980, including
students
enrolled in the so-called Professional Institutes
(Institutos
Profesionales--IPs), which had been separated from the
universities
by the military government. During the 1980s, the numbers
of
students in universities and in the IPs increased slowly
and stood
at about 153,100 in 1989, or 10.3 percent of the relevant
agegroup . However, the military government fostered the
creation of
Technical Training Centers (Centros de Formación
Técnica--CFT) as
an alternative to postsecondary education. Enrollment in
these
centers increased rapidly during the 1980s, to about
76,400
students by 1989. In 1991 a total of 245,875 students were
in some
form of higher or postsecondary education.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, under the
influence
of German advisers, Chile began to develop preprimary
education.
Matriculation in these programs also remained very small
until the
1960s. In contrast to its attitude toward higher
education, the
military government took great interest in this form of
education,
and enrollments increased greatly during the Pinochet
years. Statefunded programs for preschoolers, which enrolled about
59,000
children in 1970, had increased their matriculation to
about
109,600 by 1974. In 1989 they enrolled 213,200 children,
or about
12 percent of the population under five years of age.
Data as of March 1994
|
|