More on Chilean education

While student protests continue in Chile, it seems a good time to examine the quality of higher education in the country.  The educational consultancy Quacquarelli Symonds released a ranking of the world’s top 700 universities (http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings). Chile’s Pontificia Universidad Catolica was ranked at 250, the Universidad de Chile came in at 262 and seven other institutions in the lower third of the list.  In QS’s rankings of Latin America’s top 200 universities (http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/latin-american-university-rankings/2011) Chile was better represented, with 25 universities listed, and the aforementioned institutions were listed in the region’s top five.

A link to a good background story on Chilean university funding:  http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storycode=416035.

 

Whither the Concertacion?

It was 23 years ago today that General Augusto Pinochet lost a one-man presidential plebiscite that would have extended his rule for another eight years, and a remarkable campaign for a “no” vote against him managed to hang together in a center-left coalition that would win four elections. But times have changed, a crafty and energetic businessman/economist now occupies the presidency and the leaders of the Concertacion de Partidos por la Democracia are meeting to discuss the future.

Socialist Party president Osvaldo Andrade told Radio Cooperative that his coalition’s governments marked the end of dictatorship, but were not able to muster enough energy to seriously address Chile’s social inequalities.  October 5, the anniversary of the dictator’s electoral defeat, should produce a renewed commitment to do so, he said.

While the Concertacion’s leaders are mulling these matters, representatives of Chile’s student federation were due to meet with education ministry officials.  Whatever the outcome, they and the teachers’ union were going ahead with plans for another mass demonstration this week. The Associated Press reports that University of Chile student president Camila Vallejo “handles a microphone as if she were born with it” and has a Twitter audience of nearly 300,000.  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jj5MtpfAn19p7YWlOIxU5OaTo52w?docId=70f2008f5bbd4c8ea1c31f5efda07e2e

It is worth remembering that the first nationwide student protests began under the last of the  Concertacion governments, with little resolution. To make matters worse, the education minister was impeached when it was revealed that her department had such sloppy bookkeeping practices that it could not account for $600 million in public funds.

Meanwhile, President Sebastian Pinera’s approval ratings have registered a slight improvement—from 27 percent to 30 percent, according to the latest Adimark poll. His defense minister Andres Allamand, whose public profile was raised during last month’s rescue operations following the Juan Fernandez air crash, has become the most popular cabinet minister, with a 78 percent approval rating.  The same poll revealed that an increasing majority of Chileans back the students’ demands—79 percent, a three point increase since August—but are less supportive of their tactics, with only 49 percent approving of the mass demonstrations. http://www.adimark.cl/es/estudios/documentos/0_9_ev_gob_sept2011_.pdf.