By Jonathan Idrovo
Co-Authors: Alannah Giannino, Judy Wooley, Samantha Flax
Chilean protester calling for a new constitution. Credit: Marianela Jarroud/IPS
When General Augusto Pinochet took power over Salvador Allende on September 11th, 1973, starting a 17 year dictatorship that forever changed the political and social landscape of Chile. A regime that was synonymous with cruelty, the Pinochet era ushered in vast reforms that still hold today. These reforms have not only shaped the lives of many Chileans today, but have become the target of much controversy.
The Pinochet Agenda
Augusto Pinochet was in power from 1973-1990. According to an article by Marianela Jarroud, he introduced free-market policies, privatized and decentralized essential services, such as healthcare and education, that had been provided free of cost by the state. He also pioneered the use of pension funds and allowed them to be controlled by private companies. This kind of agenda is very much geared towards the idea of allowing the people themselves to choose where they’d like to go to school instead of it being a program that is offered by the federal government. Although this idea seemed positive to Pinochet, it created a large amount of opposition from Chileans. When these educational reforms were adopted in 1981, 78% of primary and secondary school students were in the public school system. This percentage of the Chilean population were never exposed to the concept of having to pay for their education, and the push to bring privatized education was very unpopular.
According to an interview, 57-year-old Pilar Mella says “The worst thing was the municipalization of primary and middle schools…he municipalities with the most money dedicate more funds to education, giving rise to high levels of inequality.” What Mella is saying is that creating a private market for education causes a large gap to be created between the rich and the poor. Theoretically, the schools that are the most successful will be filled with students whose parents pay top dollar for their children to be there, while the students at the bottom are struggling to get through their education program in a failing school.
Universal College: A Thing of the Past
During Allende’s term as President of Chile, college students were treated to free-tuition schooling after completing 12 years of primary and secondary schooling with no need for pre remedial college courses upon entry. This was a luxury and an idea that allowed every Chilean student to attend college without any worry after graduating from secondary schools. But once Pinochet stole power from Allende and overthrew him, free tuition was on the chopping block. Now, not only did students have no free tuition, but they now had to take college admissions exams. This proved troublesome for students that were from poor backgrounds, as they struggled to pass these exams due to the lower quality of the schools they attended. Andrés Fielbaum, the president of University of Chile Student Federation told IPS, “What the dictatorship did was transform education into just another merchandise.” Pinochet’s free-market policies transformed the education system into an auction that provided the highest bidder with the highest chance of receiving a quality education with a good chance of getting into college while the poor have little to no chance.
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/08/student-protests-in-chile/100125/
New Face, Same Government
Although the regime of Pinochet has ended, it’s clear that in 1990, there was little hope for a change to his policies over education. The center-left Coalition of Parties for Democracy, which governed the country between 1990-2010 didn’t do anything to lessen the effects of the Pinochet agenda. The party ended up strengthening his policies by introducing invented shared financing, which works like the student loans programs that are being used in the United States. This concept ended up bringing private banks into the affairs of education, creating an even greater rift between the rich and the poor students of Chile. There has been a massive amount of backlash from students in Chile, asking and protesting for a more affordable education program or a return to tuition free college.
Many of these riots have been met with police force, which has widened the tensions between students and the government. Here are a few examples of these situations:
It is clear that there is a very serious struggle between students and the police force in Chile. The possibility of any kind of education reform is very slim due to some of the legislation placed into law under Pinochet.
Pinochet’s ghost holds down the future of Chile
In 1980, Pinochet rigged the election process and passed a new constitution for Chile, which included legislation to approve lifetime senatorial seats and the binomial system. This system created a two seat system for each district in Chile, which is identical to the two senator seat system we have in the United States. This system, however, ensures that the two strongest political forces maintain political power over each sector. In this case, Chile is under the control of the two largest parties: the Coalition of Parties for Democracy and the right-wing Coalition for Change. These parties have a strong alliance with each other, which ensures little to no change for the Chilean people. The only way to remove this system is to have a supermajority in Congress, something that hasn’t happened since 1990. The younger generation of students have had enough of this though, as Fielbaum also states, “We aren’t afraid of politics or of dissent, because we know that it is the way we will build a different country…And that is where our conviction for definitively eradicating Pinochet’s legacy is born.” Most of these students were born into a world where this situation was already occurring. Many of them seek to end their own burdens while others don’t want to grow up in the world that their parents did. Either way, the student generation of Chile is looking to find a way to end the grasp that Pinochet still has on their education.
Questions:
What were some of the main concepts of Augusto Pinochet’s agenda that directly affected the education program in Chile?
Privatization and commodification of education, which had previously been tuition-free for students.
Why was privatization of public schooling seen as a negative for the majority of the Chilean population?
Many could not afford to pay tuition themselves– Additionally, the public schools, due a drastic cut in funding, did not equip students with the knowledge needed to pass entry exams for university.
What political groups are in power?
The Coalition of Parties for Democracy (left-wing) and Coalition for Change (right-wing)
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2011/08/student-protests-in-chile/100125/