the right to be educated

The Chilean people have a history, muy fuerte.  They are a very determined, conscientious people.  Very aware of their past, their present, their future.  Still healing from the wounds left by the military government through the 70s and 80s, it has taken a couple decades to readjust.  But they haven't given up the fight for their rights.  Students in high school and in university are known for their strong political opinions. They ask for free quality education because the society is so unequal socioeconomically; only the wealthy have the chance to pursue an education.

Even general education is unfairly divided.  In Chile, children are mandated to attend school from age five to age seventeen.  However, many families are at a great disadvantage because public education is extremely low quality.  Public school is 100% free to attend because it is funded by the government, but the funds are so inadequate, the quality of education is abysmal.  Families who can afford to sent their children to private school do so.  However, private education is incredibly expensive (up to $1000 USD per month).  Middle and low class parents can't afford to send their kids to such schools, even though they give the best education.

There is a third option, in between public and private.  It's called 'subvencionada' (or subsidized).  The government gives some amount of funding to this type of school, but parents also pay the rest to send their children.  I work at this type of school - right in the middle.  The students there are lucky their parents can afford their education - though it's not the best of the best, it's better than public school.  Students in public school basically have no hope for university after graduating from their general studies.  Not only is it out of question financially, but their education upon graduating high school is so very limited, they've got no option.  Also, the college entrance exam (kind of like the SAT in the States), called the PSU, costs about $60 USD, which is a luxury poor families can't afford, especially because they can guess their kid won't score well on it, since their high school education was meager.

In Chile, social mobility is at a stand-still.  The distribution of wealth is one of the most skewed in the world.  The five richest families in the entire country (one of these families is that of the President) have the majority of the wealth of the nation.  Now, I'm no communist, but something about that just doesn't sound right.  This cycle keeps repeating:  A poor family sends their daughter to public school because they can't afford any better.  Upon graduating, she works as a cashier at the supermarket, because she's got no chance at higher education.  When she has kids, they'll go to public school too...

Maybe a more equal wealth distribution is too extreme for a capitalist nation.  But that's not the solution that I think is necessary.  To break this inescapable cycle, education must improve.  The government needs to share more with the public schools.  The apartheid of education must come to an end, for the sake of the greater majority of the children in this beautiful nation.