Knowing the interests and motivations of fourth-year students who are part of technical-professional education in Chile, as well as identifying the main barriers they face to access higher education, are the objectives of “Aspiraciones sobre el Futuro” (Aspirations about the Future). This program, which is part of the Education area of the Luksic Foundation, seeks to promote the continuity of higher education to improve the life trajectories of young people and their families.
In 2023, a total of 487 technical-professional high schools from all over Chile enrolled in “Aspiraciones sobre el Futuro.” In this way, more than 55,800 fourth-year students will receive information about the admission process to higher education in 2024. The high schools, in turn, will receive a report with recommendations to promote the continuity of studies in their educational communities.
In May of this year, “Aspiraciones sobre el Futuro 2023” obtained the sponsorship of the Ministry of Education, a symbolic recognition that validates this initiative, which provides relevant information to students and is an opportunity to reinforce decision-making.
“Considering the aspirations of students is key to the development of public policies, not only regarding higher education but also regarding what they dream of for their lives more broadly. The information provided by ‘Aspiraciones sobre el Futuro’ allows increasing knowledge about young people and, for example, supporting vocational guidance and life project development,” highlighted Cristian Lincovil, Executive Secretary of Technical-Professional Education at the Ministry of Education.
Compared to its first version, which took place during 2021, “Aspiraciones sobre el Futuro” has increased its levels of participation, reaching 52% of the total number of technical-professional schools in Chile in 2023.
Isabella Luksic, General Manager of the Luksic Foundation, stated that the main objective of ASF is to help young people make informed decisions about their future, but she also highlighted that “this program has allowed us to make findings and contribute with a concrete diagnosis regarding the main barriers that young people face in their process of accessing higher education. We have made this information available through a policy brief that gathers the main conclusions of this experience and that we hope can be useful for schools, public and private organizations, decision-makers, and all those who work in the education ecosystem.”
The policy brief “Access to Information about Continuity of Studies in Technical-Professional Education,” which compiles the main results of the 2021 and 2022 versions of “Aspiraciones sobre el Futuro,” is available on the Luksic Foundation website.
