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Dignity was the word chosen by social movements in Chile during 2019 and 2020 to express their desire for a better society. A more democratic and fair one, where the intrinsic and fundamental value of each of its members is equivalent and does not depend on inherited privileges or the situation that each one is able to secure in the market. In the background, they seemed to evoke the need to promote decomodification to which Polanyi (1944) appealed, to achieve true social citizenship of Marshall (1950), to guarantee both civil and political and social rights, and thus enjoy effective positive freedom, as argued by Berlin (1958).
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Although a diversity of citizen demands arose, they ended up crystallizing in a main one: rewriting the political constitution of Chile, in order to strengthen democratic participation, social rights, the recognition of native peoples and promote a more productive, equitable use and sustainable of natural resources, among other aspects.
This demand is due to the fact that, since 1980, the coexistence between Chileans was governed by a political constitution that not only had the original sin of having been imposed by a dictatorship, but also of installing a series of bolts to ensure a “protected democracy” and a moderate role of the State (subsidiary). In effect, the Constitution reserved a series of aspects of life in common to constitutional organic laws that, unlike the ordinary ones, required high voting quorums for their modification. Said quorums were especially difficult to reach due to the skewed composition of the national congress, which resulted from a binomial electoral system designed to limit the democratic participation of various minority groups and to overstate the representation of conservative forces in the country’s legislative decisions. As if the foregoing were not enough, it contemplated a constitutional court that, on various occasions, exercised a veto power over legislation approved by Congress.
In October 2020, a plebiscite approved with 78% of the votes to reform the Constitution through an assembly. This was elected just a month ago, resulting in a resounding victory for progressive and independent sectors over the more conservative.
One of the aspects that has received the most attention and debate during the social explosion is education. This is not surprising, since not only were high school and university students the main mobilizing actors of this outbreak (and other previous ones since 2006), but the current educational system, despite the multiple reforms it has undergone, still embodies and it reflects the profound inequalities in Chilean society.
Today with 20 teachers elected within the constituent convention, out of a total of 155, education will undoubtedly have a special relevance in the constitutional debate.
What should be the main changes in this area? To answer this question, between SUMMA and the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, we conducted a legislative study with a comparative focus, analyzing more than 20 constitutions in the world and international law on the matter. From this perspective, the research reveals ten critical issues that should be addressed by the new constitution. Among the key reforms needed are:
The best interests of girls, boys and adolescents must be above the interests of the owners of the schools
1. Guarantee the right to education: it is necessary to make education a justiciable right, as is the case, for example, in Canada, Finland and Japan. Today it is not possible to resort to courts in the event of the violation of this right, which the constitution does allow for the case of freedom of education, generating an imbalance. In turn, as established by the international framework, the right to education must guarantee free provision and also its access without discrimination, its quality, and its relevance to the territory and population it serves. These considerations are absent in the current constitution.
In terms of its approach, the right to education must be understood as a right throughout life, the objective of which not only seeks the full development of the individual, but also of a democratic, inclusive and just society. Finally, this right requires recognizing that each student must be supported according to their needs, to guarantee the end of the current educational gaps that are incompatible with true equality of opportunities. Thus, everyone must be included without exceptions, as established in the latest UNESCO and SUMMA report on the monitoring of the right to education in Latin America.
2. Consolidate the role of the State: since the 1980s, Chile has been one of the most privatized countries in the world in terms of school and university education. The constitutional weakening of the state role and its limitation to a subsidiary one partly explains the high levels of inequality and segregation in the educational system. To reverse this situation, in line with different constitutions of the world (German, French, Finnish) a guarantor role must be granted to the State and preferential to public education, as the previous constitutions of Chile (1833 and 1925) did. Guaranteeing an equitable, inclusive and quality public education should be the main priority of the Chilean State in this sector.
3. Redefine the freedom of education, subjugating it to the right to education: The best interests of girls, boys and adolescents must be above the interests of the owners of the schools. The freedom of education must be subject to the right to education, contrary to what happens today in the Chilean constitution. Teaching freedom must be recognized to enrich educational proposals. However, this should be at the service of a more innovative educational system that better expresses the diversity of society and its territories, and should not be exercised in order to exclude, segregate and create sociocultural ghettos.
The constitutional debate is just beginning, we hope the constituents and Chilean society take advantage of this historic opportunity. It is key to be able to channel social discontent institutionally. We know that the constitution will not magically fix all problems, but it is a fundamental piece on the road to building a more democratic, cohesive and just society.
Javier Gonzalez He is director of the Laboratory for Research and Innovation in Education for Latin America and the Caribbean, SUMMA, and an affiliate professor at the University of Cambridge; Y Rafael Carrasco is deputy director of SUMMA.
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