Teachers' union: President 'fell short' in public address on education

Mario Aguilar, president of the College of Teachers, expressed strong disappointment with President José Antonio Kast's recent Public Account, stating it offered "very little, very poor" on the subject of education. Aguilar contended that the address failed to tackle the core issues plaguing the education system, instead making a brief mention of security through the "Escuelas Protegidas" (Protected Schools) project.

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In Education, in particular, very little, very poor, it does not address the substantive issues, it makes a mention of the security issue through the Protected Schools project.

According to Aguilar, the President did not address what he considers the fundamental problems driving serious violence in schools. These include mental health issues, a completely outdated curriculum, and social factors affecting families, which ultimately manifest as violence within the school environment. "There was not a single mention" of these root causes, Aguilar lamented, criticizing the President's focus on "surveillance, repression, punishment."

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the head of state 'says nothing about what, in our understanding, is the fundamental problem that causes serious acts of violence, which is mental health, along with a totally outdated curriculum and the social issues that affect the family, which have repercussions and reach the school in the form of violence'.

While acknowledging that sanctions are sometimes necessary for serious offenses or crimes, Aguilar argued that it is "simply naive" to believe that these grave problems in education can be resolved solely through punitive measures. He further emphasized the lack of any mention of support for schools in terms of professional reinforcement to confront these significant social and mental health challenges.

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surveillance, repression, punishment; that in some cases are necessary, of course when there are serious incidents or crimes, sanctions must exist, but to assume that the serious problems that education has today will be resolved only with that, is simply naive.

The College of Teachers also found it telling that the address omitted any reference to "significant budget cuts," particularly concerning infrastructure maintenance, which is already problematic. Aguilar stressed that the President's address fell short, leaving educators feeling that their concerns about the fundamental issues and necessary resources were not adequately addressed.

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there was no mention of support for schools with professional reinforcement to face these serious social and mental health problems.