El Ciudadano
Original article: Kast desprecia la investigación académica y desata ola de críticas en el mundo intelectual
The president questioned the value of books and science for «not generating jobs,» sparking backlash from university leaders, scientists, and educators’ unions.
During a public meeting in Puerto Montt held on Wednesday, May 6, President José Kast ignited significant controversy by doubting the social return on public investment in universities. Speaking to an audience of around one thousand people, the President defended the necessity of auditing public resources, linking scientific success solely to the immediate creation of jobs.
The statement that triggered the debate was a direct attack on academic work, suggesting that «sometimes 100 or 500 million is allocated for research that ends up in a beautiful book, bound, on a library shelf. How many jobs did it generate? None.» With this argument, the government reinforced its fiscal adjustment line that had already impacted the sector in March, when the Ministry of Science confirmed the temporary suspension of master’s scholarships and postdoctoral programs abroad.
The academic community’s response was swift and universally critical of Kast’s remarks. Pablo Ruiz Tagle, Dean of Law at the University of Chile, described the statements as «unfortunate» and accused the government of fostering an anti-intellectual atmosphere. The academic argued that a book generates employment from its writing to the construction of the building that houses it, stating that the President’s comments reveal a «myopic» perspective that causes embarrassment.
In a similar vein, Osvaldo Corrales, Rector of the University of Valparaíso, pointed out that Chile invests merely 0.4% of its GDP in science and technology, a figure far below the OECD average, and asserting that questioning such minimal resources jeopardizes the remarkable results achieved by Chilean scientists working with limited budgets.
The noted astronomer Tere Paneque also took to social media to express her outrage over what she perceives as a regression in social and scientific development. «I am quite angry. I really don’t understand this far-right obsession with hating scientific knowledge and books,» the researcher posted. Moreover, she challenged the President to present a single public contest that allocated 500 million pesos for a project resulting solely in a book, suggesting that Kast’s figures do not align with reality.
In an exclusive statement to El Ciudadano, Mario Aguilar, President of the Teachers’ Association, lamented the comments that belittle intellectual production. «Chile is a country where scientific research is very low; countries need to investigate more to gain autonomy and development,» the leader emphasized, underlining the importance of having a future-oriented vision.
Aguilar added that anyone capable of envisioning a country’s trajectory should value intellectual creation beyond short-term economic returns. For the teacher’s leader, what a President should articulate is a vision of how Chile will develop autonomously, rather than viewing knowledge as something useless.
Furthermore, anthropologist Julio Hasbún-Mancilla told us that the President seems poorly advised about how value is created and the role of the university in that process, explaining that universities do not merely train professionals for employment; they also generate knowledge in the sciences, humanities, and arts, underscoring that these fields strengthen democratic life.
Hasbún-Mancilla warned that Kast’s perspective is overly focused on an extractive economy, which condemns the country to stagnation. «If we don’t advance, we will continue exporting copper concentrate that will be transformed into products with more knowledge embedded in them and greater value,» the academic stated about the necessity of adding value to exports.
In conclusion, experts agree that it has taken decades to build a world-class research ecosystem in the country, and its value cannot be measured solely in monetary terms. Kast’s viewpoint does not seem to align with the reality of Chile, and the scientific community remains alert to what they perceive as the beginning of the dismantling of the national knowledge system.
El Ciudadano
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