OREANDA-NEWS. Chile will implement a program to improve the relevance, quality and efficiency of its technical-professional education system with a $90 million loan approved by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). 

The Program to Strengthen the Technical-Professional Education was designed specifically to develop institutional ways to bring together all the actors in the field to guarantee its relevance, quality and effectiveness; adapt offerings to the needs of the productive sectors; strengthen and adapt mechanisms to guarantee their quality; and expand technical-professional education to selected regions and sectors. 

“This program, on the one hand, signals the importance that Chile puts on the development of its human capital, and therefore on education, as key factors for sustaining and accelerating its development and as a tool for promoting learning throughout life – and therefore as an engine for productive development that also contributes to social mobility and inclusion,” said Marcelo P?rez, head of the IDB's project team. “On the other hand, it is the fruit of an intense dialogue and effort to identify the possibilities of collaboration on these issues between the country and the bank.” 

One component of the project is designed to guarantee a macroeconomic context consistent with its objective, and another seeks the development of a management model and new offerings in the technical-professional education, supporting policies that contribute to its overall access, fairness, relevance and quality. 

The project also includes a component designed to guarantee the quality of technical-professional education through numerous activities, among them a study of what students learn; development of a system of support for the state Centers for Technical Education; and an analysis of the system for evaluating teachers and administrators. 

Additionally, the project seeks to define the learning standards for students based on their skills and graduation profiles, as well as the performance standards for technical institutions, their teachers and administrators and learning and equipment spaces; a system that establishes the requirements for teaching technical specialties; and an information system for offerings on technical formation, labor market behavior, vocational orientations and monitoring of graduates. 

The project also seeks to expand technical-professional education to selected regions and sectors, by linking it to the creation of state Centers for Technical Formation, the design of Technological Learning Centers and the Regional Advisers Committees for Technical Education, and the implementation of a regulatory framework that promotes a satisfactory path for students. 

The main results expected from the program are offerings adapted to the new frameworks, the development of mechanisms to assure the quality of technical-professional education, and its expansion to selected regions and sectors. 

The IDB credit for $90 million comes from its Flexible Financing Facility, has a 10-year term, a 10-year grace period and an interest rate based on LIBOR.