Entrevista de La Tercera Miguel Urquiola , Academic Department. of Economics, U. Columbia, one of the most respected experts in education and get deeper into the Chilean system. In 2002, together with Chang-Tai Hsieh, published a study concluding that the subsidy scheme introduced in Chile in the 80, did not bring the expected effects on quality. Invited to the country by the U. Chile and UC, in this interview shred recent measures in education.
In one of his studies, notes that the introduction of the voucher system in Chile did not produce quality. Why?
Chile has created a system that, according to the typical economic recipe is ideal: pure competition. But in a recent study show that education is a different and complex sector. For example, if I open a sandwich shop, a consumer can easily tell if the sandwich I sell is good or bad. In education, it is difficult to distinguish the product of a school in the composition of their consumers. The reputation of a school depends on who your customers. When this this is so, schools can build a good reputation based on selectivity, and decreases the impact of competition.
How are schools to create more value added?
should be less selective. Sweden has a grant system similar to Chile but their schools should select pupils by lottery. In the U.S., publicly funded schools can not select. In Chile, schools find it easy to choose from, which leads them to base their reputations on who their students on how well they teach. Do you lack
effort?
In Chile, as in other countries, lack the efforts of two sides: students and their parents, and schools. These are efforts to attract good students, but not necessarily to teach more. The challenge is to explore how to make schools and students have to work hard. And Chile has not found a way to do one or the other.
How can
encourage student effort?
debiesen use is more tests at the individual level. For example, take the score to have a result Simce individually. PSU also further refined. The only way for students to strive is to perceive that their performance is important.
How to solve the high segregation of the country?
is very difficult. It could limit or implement explicit selection lottery and limit the ability of colleges to choose their pupils by the prices charged to attorneys and exams. Almost anywhere, it is difficult to decrease the selection, because it affects the legitimate interests of many people.
Other measures the government will be the increase in Simce test. More measurements require the system to improve?
Better information is usually better, although not always generate the expected consequences.
In this regard, how do you evaluate the extent of sending parents a school primer with red, yellow and green?
I think parents are interested in these maps. But the light does not say anything about how effective are the schools. One of the problems of the education system in Chile is that culture is like the light: which school is good and what is bad is almost determined by the socio-economic, and that reduces the effectiveness of competition. That is the paradox of Chile: strong competition was inserted without generating more added value.
"This culture existed before the maps?
do not think the ministry, to produce these maps, and invent something new. The culture of the semaphore already existed: it was the Simce and we knew that socioeconomic characteristics are closely related to performance. The maps are not surprising information to anyone. Post maps does not improve education or creates pressure to raise the efficiency of the system. On the contrary, it reinforces the culture that says the company is good to have good shoppers.
You mean we have over 20 years in the culture of light?
Yes, like 30 years. Education is a sector that has a natural tendency to stratification, and explain, for example, the rankings.
Any other country has done so much for education reform?
Many countries have increased spending as Chile. But where Chile is only to introduce more market reforms many with so few results and even more adverse effects such as stratification. And is the country that shows that competition alone does not improve education.
His vision of the high schools of excellence
The creation of 25 high schools of excellence Can have an impact on the quality of the system?
The downside of this initiative is to deepen the selection, so do not think it has an impact on the average productivity of the system. These schools will have good results almost by definition, but I think it creates pressure to achieve high added value. Furthermore, students can choose to stigmatize those who are left behind.
And enter these schools could be an incentive for students?
That is the good side: they can be an incentive for children to strive to enter the country. But are not the panacea. A more interesting is, after selecting students who will to these schools (for merit and drawing) randomized. Then, see who does it better.
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