El Ciudadano
Original article: Profesores califican como «pobres» los proyectos anunciados por Kast: «No atienden el fondo del problema de la violencia e incorporan medidas tramposas»
Teachers Criticize Kast’s Proposals as «Inadequate» on School Violence: «They Don’t Address the Root Causes»
After the projects presented by Kast’s government were unveiled regarding violence in Chile’s school system, Mario Aguilar, the national president of the Chilean Teachers’ College, stated, «At first glance, we don’t yet know the details of the project, but it appears absolutely inadequate given the gravity and depth of the problem we seek to address.»
«What is being proposed are merely measures and sanctions that focus on the effects, not the causes. There is no mention from the President of what we believe is one of the main focal points of the issue that must be tackled, which is mental health,» the union leader added.
Aguilar reiterated that educators across the country «have been saying for a long time – also during the previous government – that we must tackle the issue of mental health within our society, which manifests in serious problems evident in schools, and the Calama case dramatically illustrates this. The horror experienced has its roots in a serious mental health issue. In other words, there is a cause.»
For the Teachers’ representative, «It is not only the effects that need to be addressed; an important and fundamental issue is the Curriculum.»
«Today, schools focus on performance, productivity, standardized testing, competing, and doing whatever it takes to gain a few extra points to be better than the neighboring school, completely neglecting emotional education, social aspects, and the human dimension that must never be lost in education,» he emphasized.
«We currently have an education system that is unappealing to students: tedious, overwhelming, and focused on performance while being utterly unconcerned about the individuals involved. This should also be addressed, and President Kast makes no mention of it at all. Thus, we say these measures are inadequate, although some may be necessary, others appear quite deceptive,» the educator warned.
Regarding this latter point, Aguilar questioned, «Any disruption in class, according to this bill, would be treated the same whether it is an act of violence like throwing Molotov cocktails or a peaceful protest by students because they have unsanitary bathrooms, as has happened many times.»
«Or when teachers raise issues and sometimes pause activities, will that also be addressed the same way as a violent protest? This conflation seems deceptive to us and undermines fundamental rights,» the leader criticized.
Finally, the president of the Teachers’ College stated that they consider it «a grave error to impose a lifetime sanction on someone, for example, a young person who may have committed an offense or even a crime at 14, who would remain permanently barred from free education, which we believe could even be unconstitutional. Therefore, we say these measures are inadequate and fall short of addressing the deep-rooted issues regarding violence in schools,» concluded Mario Aguilar.
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