El Ciudadano
Original article: «2027 podría venir con más recortes»: Ocho gremios de la Educación entregaron carta a Kast por disminución de recursos y situación de los SLEP
Eight educational organizations delivered a letter to President José A. Kast expressing their «deep concern» regarding the current educational situation in Chile stemming from budget cuts, the potential ‘pause’ in implementing the Local Education Service (SLEP), the Protected Schools Law, and the indecency project.
In this context, Mario Aguilar, the national president of the Chilean Teachers’ Association, stated, «These are the significant concerns we have as representatives from various educational sectors. We echo the worries of the public reflected in the latest CEP survey, where education ranks third alongside safety and the economy. We believe that when education is compromised, it affects all Chileans and the entire citizenry.»
The representative of the teaching community emphasized, «This coordination signifies a joint effort by the unions to unite forces and defend the right to education in our country.»
«We will invite other organizations to ensure this convergence continues to grow because this is our way of calling upon citizens to defend education, its resources, and to confront the threats we foresee for 2027, which could bring even more cuts. We will make every effort to prevent that situation from occurring,» Aguilar indicated.
Meanwhile, María Beatriz Fuenzalida Cofré, national president of the National Association of Education Ministry Employees (Andime), warned that «the resources invested in education come from all Chileans through their taxes. Delaying the establishment of the SLEP gives municipalities a free pass to spend the money as they please. It is critical to remember that SLEP was created precisely to ensure education funds are used for educational purposes.»
The leader denounced the reduction of public officials, stating, «They are reducing our staff so we cannot monitor. We defend all citizens and their families. Education is a fundamental right. We hope the President will rise to the occasion and provide us with a strengthened and convincing response.»
Additionally, Javier Obando, national leader of the Association of Education Superintendents (Asume), stressed that «we are not monitoring state resources. We are very concerned because the entire school community is currently at the mercy of the sponsors. We have had absolutely no oversight of educational institutions regarding the use of resources that Chilean sponsors must report. We are only focusing on issues of complaints.»
Lastly, Takuri Tapia, president of the National Federation of State University Workers in Chile (Fentuech), noted, «Through this letter, we express our concerns about the state universities, as certain programs have already been discontinued due to budget cuts, which is troubling for university communities.»
«The 3% that was once announced could translate into a 15% to 20% cut of the universities’ budgets. Thus, we emphasize our worry over the ongoing cuts and what may follow in 2027,» reiterated the Federation.
La entrada Education Unions Express Concerns Over Resource Cuts in Letter to President Kast, Warning of Potential 2027 Budget Reductions se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.
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