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A scenario that no minister had faced touched the lawyer Raúl Figueroa, in charge of Education since last February: 3.6 million students without classes in 11,462 schools for months. All due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which still has a strong health and economic impact around the world. But with the gradual deconfinement of the cities, the Secretary of State explains to La Tercera that the requests for schools that want to reopen nationwide have doubled (they went from 136 on September 22 to 209, last Thursday). It also addresses the importance of supporters making efforts to reopen in already de-escalated areas.
86 schools have already returned to classes, what is your evaluation, taking into account that there are 11,500 at the national level?
The effects of the prolonged suspension of face-to-face classes are dramatic, as reflected by national and international evidence. The learning gaps are going to increase, the deterioration in them is evident and the risk of dropping out is multiplying. We could have dropout rates almost three times higher than after the 2010 earthquake. Given this scenario, the Ministry of Education has made every effort to accompany the distance education process and mitigate these effects. But it has also been evident that to the extent that conditions allow it, recovering the school experience is essential and should be a priority. In this context, we positively evaluate that various establishments make their establishments available to students. In the last two weeks, the number of applications to open schools at the national level doubled and in the Metropolitan Region that figure quintupled. Of course we are just beginning and it is a limited number in relation to the universe of schools.
Are most of them private and subsidized?
To date, 30% of the requests to reopen correspond to municipal schools. Which is complex, because where this crisis is going to hit the hardest is in public education, which is also the one that has been most affected by the interruption of classes in previous periods. There is a fact: if you do not return to face-to-face classes between now and March, a student from the public sector will take, on average, 15 months without going to the classroom. This, taking into account the pandemic and that after October 2019, the students stopped having activities, to which the teacher strike was added.
Some argue that the business community has pushed to reopen schools so that parents can go to work. What do you think?
From the point of view of the deterioration of learning, of the socio-emotional development of young people and even of health, the consequences of keeping schools closed are obvious. It seems to me that it borders on insult to pretend that schools should be opened for reasons other than pedagogical, having such strong evidence in Chile and the world of the negative that is the suspension of classes. The UN Secretary General (António Guterres) described the educational situation as a generational catastrophe, and, therefore, thinking that the efforts that communities are making to reopen schools have a different objective of delivering the best to their students means ignore reality. It is offensive to those who make that effort.
What will happen if there is a Covid-19 outbreak in schools?
The plan to open the schools is based on the pillars of safety, voluntariness and gradualism. All establishments must comply with demanding sanitary protocols and can only do so in territories where conditions allow it. As long as the requirements are met, the risks are controlled.
If there is an outbreak, should classes be suspended?
The criterion was set by the Ministry of Health: all those who had close contact with a case must be isolated and the necessary measures are taken: close one course, close several or the establishment. The important thing is to be clear that measures are taken in a limited way, to combine security with the need for as many students as possible to access the school.
Some mayors stated that they will not return to face-to-face activity this year …
It is essential that we do not deny students the possibility of being reunited at school. Let’s think about fourth year students: they need the apprenticeships to access higher education and, above all, to close a cycle. All supporters have an obligation: to make the maximum effort to, complying with the sanitary conditions, to be available to their communities again and to allow parents to choose whether or not they want to recover the school experience. Any supporter who for reasons other than pedagogical or socio-emotional decides to keep a school closed, giving himself the necessary conditions, I think he is making a tremendous mistake and harms the right to education.
The College of Teachers is very critical of this decision.
The health authority has indicated that in certain territories the conditions exist to open schools. Along these lines, establishments must comply with strict protocols to provide safety for students. This has been done in the schools that have opened and in the vast majority of countries, which, putting the best interests of the children, have decided to reopen the schools.
Could the Mineduc force the opening of schools?
Our plan focuses on security, voluntariness and gradualism, and that is how we will continue working. I want to emphasize that today there is consensus regarding how important it is to recover the face-to-face experience and the need to make every effort to make the establishments available.
When is the school year closed?
The school year continues its course and it is necessary to make the most of the time that remains to properly evaluate the students, from the point of view of their learning and social-emotional. And level learning in the logic of curricular prioritization. We have given guidance on how evaluations should be done. We recommend doing it based on feedback with students and that should be reflected in a note.
How do you see 2021?
Our efforts are to make the most of this school year, to reinforce learning and focus on fundamental areas. Next year will be different: we must dedicate, especially the first part of the year, to reinforcing learning and fulfilling what is expected at each level. The system has learned to use technological tools that are a complement, but the focus should be on recovering, reinforcing and continuing to advance.
What do you rescue from the countries that have returned to school?
There are several ways to deal with Covid-19, but there is something common, which is that education has once again been a priority. In those nations, the continuity of the system was placed as a central element in their policy, to the point that the general rule is that schools must be open and that restrictive measures are specific, reaching the logic that if certain activities are restricted, establishments are the last option for a closure.
Could a face-to-face return be ordered even just a few days a week?
We are working this year on the announced plan. It seems fundamental to us that, given that education is central to closing gaps, the country has a State perspective.
According to studies, the connectivity of students with their schools is not good, being lower in poor sectors. What analysis does it do?
Connectivity is useful for students to maintain distance education, but not everyone has the same access. We are concerned that every day that passes more students may leave the system due to the loss of ties with the school. Last August, 10% of the students did not have any type of contact with their establishment and the next 20% had low contact. Distance education has been carried out with different mechanisms: online platforms, text messages, delivery of guides and others. Therefore, the suspension of classes amplifies the learning gaps. The school is, by definition, a place where the gaps decrease and what we see today is that a factor that prevailed this year is the cultural capital of the families, which is transmitted to the students. One of the biggest risks is that the gaps will widen. This is significant, that at a time when equity is at the center of public debate, there is still some resistance to reopening schools, which is a mechanism to combat inequality.
