(ANS - Santiago) - Saturday, August 2, about a thousand people took part in a seminar on the theme of Educational Reform at the Salesian School in Alameda, Santiago. The meeting, organized by the Vicariate for Education, was specifically held for parents and heads of subsidized private schools in the metropolitan region. Among those present was the Minister for Education, Dr. Nicolás Eyzaguirre.

In addition to the Minister, other protagonists of the reform also attended: the independent  Deputy George Jackson, and the Deputy of the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), Romilio Gutiérrez - both members of the Commission of the Chamber of Deputies.

Each of the guests had a total of 15 minutes to present their ideas, doubts and hopes about the current project of educational reform. Issues such as shared-payment, the selection and segregation were the focus of the debate, which lasted nearly two hours.

The task of closing the interventions was given to dr. Eyzaguirre, who took the opportunity to clarify doubts and fears about the future subsidized private education in Chile: "The point, dear friends is that, Quality and Fairness (in education) are two concepts that are completely inseparable," said Minister.

In closing the meeting, Andrés Palma, Executive Secretary for Educational Reform, shared his impressions of the meeting: "We are very pleased with the participation of the Minister and Members of Parliament to the vicariate for education; meetings like this are what the country needs, in all sectors and at all levels, to put an end to the misinformation that unfortunately have developed on the Educational Reform (...) If there is segregation in education, there will be segregation in society and if you get to segregate society, then you notice the earlier problem that arose; for this the inclusion is so important, and we need to start it today."

The Episcopal Vicar for Education, Fr Tomás Scherz, praised the contribution that this meeting had offered to the community of Catholic parents: "For us, for the Church, education is founded on the principle that the primary educators are the parents, and a meeting like this allows us to reflect on the actions that they perform in this complementary education. (...) It was a good opportunity to meet and discuss about Educational Reform."

Posted on 06/August/2014