President José Antonio Kast reinforced his government's position on evaluating the transfer of schools to the Local Public Education Services (SLEP) on Tuesday, according to La Tercera. "If we have evidence that it hasn't worked in some places, well, let's stop the machine", the President said.
SLEP are the bodies that take over the administration of public primary and secondary schools previously run by municipalities. The transfer proceeds in stages, municipality by municipality.
Kast spoke while leading the National Commitment to Reading Proficiency, alongside Education Minister María Paz Arzola. The initiative seeks to strengthen children's reading skills in Chile.
The statement supports an idea put forward by Arzola. A few months ago, the minister announced that the Ministry of Education (Mineduc) was considering a pause involving SLEP to assess what changes are needed.
This is not the first time the President has supported that position. In May, he said: "I'm not saying it needs to be changed, but it does need to be analyzed". He added at the time that some municipalities were joining and that it was also unclear whether the outcome was optimal.
This time, he addressed the mayors present. He thanked them for their commitment and said education is a matter of resources as well as vocation. He acknowledged that some are calling for the application of the Preferential School Subsidy Law (SEP), which provides additional resources to schools with vulnerable students.
"Let's put the child at the center. If the SEP law, if the SLEP project improves the quality of teaching, let's go ahead", Kast said. He argued that evaluating that commitment is the responsibility of everyone involved.
The President questioned continuing to do "more of the same all the time". He proposed stopping and reviewing whether these programs have the expected effectiveness for children who lack reading comprehension or have not fully developed.
The available information does not specify what data or studies the government will use for that evaluation, or when it would conduct it. Nor does it specify which municipalities would be affected by a possible pause.
"I'm not saying, let's change everything. But let's stop to analyze what we're doing", Kast concluded. Mineduc has yet to announce a formal decision on pausing the transfer.
