María Zuñiga, president of the deans of Education at CRUCH: “If we want the best to come to education, let's start by introducing a minimum standard for applications…”

The academic met with the Minister of Education, Harald Beyer, to discuss the admission requirements for teacher training programs and the Inicia Test. "If we want the best students to come to education, let's start by introducing a minimum standard for the application process," warned the dean of the University of La Serena.

Today, the deans of Education from the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) met with Minister Harald Beyer at the Ministry of Education to discuss teacher training and the results of the Inicia Test, among other topics.

Upon leaving the meeting, María Zuñiga, president of the deans of Education at CRUCH, stated that requiring a minimum application score of 500 points for all higher education institutions that offer the Pedagogy degree is a matter of principle.

“Essentially, we wanted to see how the Ministry would respond to our position regarding the development of a public policy for teacher training. We wanted to know who will be eligible to apply to teacher education programs, because last year the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) agreed to establish a minimum application score of 500 points. Since we advocate for selective admissions, we want to limit this requirement, given that a significant portion of the Higher Education System is unregulated. Some programs at universities outside the CRUCH do not have this minimum application score. We consider this a matter of principle. If we want the best candidates to enter the field of education, we should start by introducing a minimum application score,” said the Dean of Education at the University of La Serena.

Minister Beyer stated that the Ministry of Education is open to moving forward with stricter admission requirements for teacher training programs. "The requirements could involve higher scores or other factors, such as school rankings. We must be careful to choose the most appropriate instruments for this purpose," the education official said.

Test Start

Regarding the Inicia Test, the representative of the deans of Education from CRUCH explained that they had raised concerns about how the results were released and pointed out the inappropriateness of making the test a qualifying factor in the short term. She added that they will work on an alternative proposal to the Inicia Test.

“We believe the test is necessary, but we think that at this time, making it a qualifying measure wouldn't be very appropriate because our institutions are working on it, but somewhat behind schedule, in relation to the test's benchmarks, such as the standards. We've asked for some time because it's a lengthy process to make the curricular changes that allow us to incorporate these new guidelines. We're discussing a gradual approach to this professional qualification process based on the test and evaluating whether there are other instruments that, together with Inicia, would allow us to give this assessment a more comprehensive dimension. It's good to think about standards, numbers, and figures, but there's also a value in teacher training that isn't so tangible, it's not quantifiable, and I think the processes should reflect that ethical, social, and cultural development that teacher training in Chile entails,” Zuñiga stated.

Beyer, for his part, indicated that they would be given a reasonable timeframe because the situation was untenable due to the unsatisfactory results of the Initial Assessment Test in the country. He added that the Ministry considers the Initial Assessment Test to be good, as it meets adequate international standards, although they are open to improving it. “We have a bill in Congress that makes it a qualifying and mandatory requirement, and what we want is to expedite that bill. In fact, we have been gathering political support to accelerate its passage, and we hope to have news on that front soon.”.