Kindergarten education in Chile begins formally with the creation of the first nursery school on October 6, 1864.
That is why this Tuesday we commemorate the 160 years of Public Early Childhood Education in Chilewhich has reached a benchmark educational quality standard in Latin America.
The nursery school was created in 1864, it was located on Portugal Street in Santiago and was directed by the Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.
Modern approach to early childhood education in Chile
The nursery school that was created in 1864 was the first approximation of a modern paradigm institution for childhood in the country, and laid the foundations to move towards an educational approach at a time when care for boys and girls was predominantly welfare.
Since then, early childhood education in Chile has moved from a care approach to a comprehensive approachwhere initial education is conceived as the basis for the cognitive, social and emotional development of girls and boys.
Thanks to the work of multiple generations and governments, public preschool education in Chile has reached a educational quality standard benchmark in Latin America.
For this commemoration, the Undersecretary of Early Childhood Education has promoted the “Garden of Memories” initiative, a call to citizens to collect photographs and stories of experiences in early education, which will be exhibited at the National Historical Museum starting in November.
Growth of preschool education in Chile
The preschool education public experienced an increase in attendance during the first half of 2024compared to the previous year.
In June and July 2024, the increases were 17.1% and 7.2%, respectively, compared to the same months of the previous year.
During the period from March to July 2024, the average attendance reached 76% and has remained above 72%.
The above reflects a more effective control of the impacts of winter on the education and health of boys and girls.
Regarding the figures in nursery education in Chile:
- Son 731,838 girls and boys who attend preschool education levels.
- 11,876 establishments They have levels of nursery education: 4,365 are public nurseries and/or kindergartens.
- There are 3,981 directors of these institutions29,693 early childhood educators, and 63,998 early childhood technicians or assistants.
Comprehensive Nursery Room Agenda for Chile
The Sala Cuna agenda for Chile seeks to promote access to quality education from early childhood, in a comprehensive way and with an educational focus.
This agenda consists of two bills:
Crib Room Bill for Chile
The Crib Room bill for Chile seeks Expand access for mothers and fathers to nurseries and kindergartens that are certified.
This project integrates an educational perspective that places the education and well-being of boys and girls at the center, also considering parental co-responsibility and promoting female labor insertion.
It is currently in the first constitutional process in the Senate.
Preschool Education Modernization Bill
Its objective is to modernize and reorganize the offer in nursery education, establishing enabling conditions that allow progress in the development of this educational level.
On October 7, it was approved in the chamber of the Chamber of Deputies, passing to the Senate for its second constitutional procedure.
This bill extends the deadline until 2034 for kindergartens to obtain their Official State Recognition and:
- Legally recognizes alternative early childhood education programswhich provide coverage in territories that are difficult to access or have high geographic dispersion.
- Create one centralized registry of early childhood education establishments and regulates nursery calendars to determine periods of suspension of activities.
- Set the multiple license plate incompatibility between preschool education establishments that receive regular contributions from the State to avoid oversized waiting lists.
- Reorder the registration system and list management.
