Salvador Allende’s Unified National School Proposal & University Reform in Chile
Salvador Allende’s Unified National School Proposal
- Unified National School, March 12, 1973
Political Context
University reform brings the country’s major problems into public debate. The situation was completely politicized.
Upon the arrival of the democratically elected Salvador Allende in Chile, the country became a target of the U.S. In this delicate situation, the proposed unified national school emerged from teachers, UNESCO, and a comprehensive proposal rooted in Third World thinking.
Source: Proposal issued by SUTE in 1970 and proposed at the National Education Congress in 1971, integrating all levels of education. These are action ideas.
Objective
To develop a new framework of values and class personality through manual flexibility. It seeks the recovery of physical work as an element contributing to the full development of individuals.
Characteristics of the Unified National School (ENU)
- National: Understood as a space that favors identity and sovereignty. It involves cultivating indigenous cultural and producer values.
- Unified: A single process from kindergarten to college, ensuring no discrepancy in content at each level.
- Diversified: Reflecting the country’s cultural and economic diversity, the school must address the needs of each locality.
- Democratic: Guaranteeing equal opportunities in access to education and full participation in running the system.
- Production: Boosting the development of a skilled workforce by integrating technological development and labor practices into teaching.
- Integration with the Community: Building a unified regular system linked to economic, social, and cultural development, recognizing that each community has different needs.
University Reform (1967-1968)
This process emerged because the reform of ’65 did not include major changes in higher education. It was a movement created in all universities within the context of Eduardo Frei’s Chilean government.
The democratization of the university was the most important concept: “University for All.”
It corresponds to demand-driven movements and student unions under the concept of university democratization.
This was the last stage of a process that began in 1920, questioning the role of universities in the national environment, and it ran until 1973, when the movement was ended by military intervention.
Universidad de Chile
The country’s largest university (27,000 students) with an avant-garde trend. The consensual process of change faced no major opponents.
The centerpiece was the opening of the university. Chairs were dictated simultaneously 2 or 3 times a year to enable fast and efficient progress of the system.
Catholic University of Valparaiso
It was small, with a staff of approximately 4,000 students. The prominence of the reform was undertaken by the architecture school teachers of social sciences, who were the first to be a university.
Pontificia Universidad Católica de Santiago
Contrary to the other two, this was the only university that refused to accept changes. It was markedly elitist and closed to changes, even to the church. The August 14 decision began with clashes between labor groups that strongly opposed the changes and tried to regain control of the campus.
Universidad de Concepción
This university saw the emergence of one of the most revolutionary violent movements. Virtually the only university so far democratic. They had a democratically elected president and student participation but were dominated by Freemasonry (teachers) and the MIR (students).