The much desired and necessary presence in schools, which we have seen during the first half of March, is one of the many challenges that 2022 brings. But indeed, the challenges in educational matters are multiple. Aware of this, a year ago, the Luksic Foundation promoted MueveTP, an initiative focused on promoting the continuity of studies of students in technical-vocational (TP) schools in Chile, where 37% of the total number of students in the third and fourth year of secondary education in the country are educated. By encouraging these young people to enter higher education, we seek to improve their personal and professional expectations, and thus their quality of life and that of their families.
Our work has focused on inviting technical-vocational high schools to join this initiative, achieving the participation of two thirds of the schools that teach this modality in Chile, which reflects the interest and need that exists in this topic in the educational communities. Through the pillars of MueveTP – the Collaborative Networks for Continuous Improvement project, the Aspirations for the Future initiative, and the Fund for the Strengthening of Educational Initiatives (FIE) – we have worked to promote collaboration and enhance learning, in addition to developing initiatives to provide information on alternative institutions, careers and financing for higher education, to support them in making the best decision for their future.
We are optimistic about how the gaps between TP and humanistic scientific establishments have been narrowing, as evidenced by the latest results of the Transition Test (PDT) 2022, in which the number of students from TP high schools who were selected for higher education increased by 16%, compared to the previous admission process. On the other hand, the National Articulation Agreement, which as of 2021 includes the 35 secondary education specialties, gives a great impulse to the continuity of studies of young people who graduate from TP high schools.
However, much remains to be done. The objective we subscribe to as MueveTP is to build more and better opportunities for the youth of Chile and for that we need to unite in the face of this challenge, for which it is essential that the educational communities, the various institutions of higher education (CFT, IP, Universities), the productive sector, the State, NGOs and the private world, are protagonists in the process of expanding the expectations of thousands of students, teachers and families.
By:
Álvaro Ipinza, general manager of Fundación Luksic.
María Fernanda Orellana, Executive Director of MueveTP
