The Ñuble Region, and specifically the city of Chillán, has registered a strong increase in the number of higher education students in the last 20 years. This is how it went from 12,000 enrolled in 2000 to more than 30,000 last year.
This reflects a higher level of schooling among the population, as well as the increase in academic offerings in the regional capital, which is evidenced by the fact that more than 200 courses are currently offered in 19 establishments.
Chillán has become, then, an educational hub, attracting young people from different regions, who see this city as an economical and safe alternative to study, which is in line with the vocation of a service center that the city has today. its status as regional capital.
This, naturally, has an important economic impact on the city, since this “floating” population requires lodging, food, entertainment, study items, clothing and transportation, among other demands. It is enough to observe the investments of some educational centers that have expanded or improved their infrastructure to increase their capacity and promote academic work. And if it is new, the number of careers has also increased, with an emphasis on the areas of environment, public administration and health.
Unfortunately, despite these auspicious figures, the area has not been able to improve the level of local human capital, as graduates choose to emigrate to Santiago and other regions where there are more job opportunities and higher salaries.
In short, Ñuble, and particularly Chillán, is a provider of educational services, which exports most of its human capital, and has not known how to take advantage of this critical mass to promote the economic development of the area.
For a lawyer, an engineer or a veterinary doctor, and also for technicians, the capital of Ñuble does not represent an attractive alternative from a work point of view, because the offer simply does not exist, but it is not attractive from a business point of view either. level of salaries, which are among the lowest in the country. All of this has an impact on the scarcity of entrepreneurship and reduces the possibilities of generating added value to production.
This means, in practice, that if a change does not occur, the area will continue producing and marketing commodities (wood, pulp and fruits, mainly), and the salaries of its workers will continue to be low compared to the national average.
This vicious circle, in which low salaries are a disincentive for attracting professionals, and the lack of professionals makes it difficult to add value to production and the generation of entrepreneurship, which in turn, are determining factors in the local salary structure, State support is necessary to create the conditions to increase private investment and, on the other hand, focus incentives on micro, small and medium-sized companies that add value.
Economic development requires planning. The educational centers are already there, now all that is missing is public policies for the retention of professionals and spaces for the use of this great human capital.
