Diagnosis and Proposals for Chilean Education

Abstract

Education plays an important role in economic growth. Chile’s structural reforms in this front contributed more than one percentage point of higher growth during the nineties. If we continue in the same human capital trend growth or, even better, if we achieve radical changes that place us at the standards for developed nations, we could benefit from substantially higher growth rates. This paper critically reviews the Chilean education system and identifies quality as its mayor problem. We study the reforms and their effects on the quantity and quality of education and propose further changes that should generate substantial improvements.