Following the positive results of the PDT, Álvaro Ipinza, general manager of the Fundación Luksic, and María Fernanda Orellana, executive director of MueveTP, highlighted in a letter to the editor of El Mercurio the consistent reduction in the gap between graduates of technical-professional and scientific-humanist education, and the importance of continuing to promote actions to encourage continuity of studies.
Mr. Director:
The consistent reduction of gaps in the scores obtained between graduates of technical-professional (TP in Spanish) and humanistic scientific secondary education is great news, indicating that the Transition Test (PDT) has had positive effects on the probabilities of access to higher education for those who attend the TP system.
The OECD’s “Education at a Glance 2019” report shows that those who obtain a higher technical degree earn a 40% higher salary than those who complete their secondary education, while those who graduate from a professional career earn 163% more.
At MueveTP, an initiative led by the Luksic Foundation, we believe that the continuity of studies of those who graduate from the technical-professional school system is fundamental to reduce socioeconomic gaps. With our initiatives we have reached almost two thirds (576) of Chile’s professional technical schools (934), with whose school communities we agree that good quality higher education generates social mobility, allows dreams to be fulfilled and enhances life projects.
It is necessary that all actors, from the public and private sectors, push hard towards equal opportunities, so that these gaps and so many others in our society continue to narrow.
Alvaro Ipinza, general manager of Fundación Luksic
María Fernanda Orellana, executive director of MueveTP
*Letter published in El Mercurio newspaper on Saturday, January 15.
