AMERICA/CHILE-Building a quality learning model of education, fair and right, is everyone's responsibility

Santiago, Chile (Agenzia Fides) - In the context of student protests, the Chilean bishops have stressed the urgency of researching proposals that meet with a broad consensus, in order to give the processes the go-ahead that meet the right demands. The spokesman of the Episcopal Conference of Chile, Jaime Coiro, has recently presented a statement signed by the President of the Episcopal Conference, Mgr. Ricardo Ezzati, and the Chairman of the Education field, Mgr. Héctor Vargas. The text states that the Chilean Church closely follows the demands of the student movement (see Fides 05/19/2011) considering that the heated debate around the education system is a sign of uneasiness of which society as a whole must take responsibility .
In the text of the bishops’ communication, sent to Fides, reads: "There is a long way to go in the task of building an educational model of learning quality, fair and right, where every student, regardless of his or her personal and social condition, is assured of the necessary training to fully develop, to build a life project and to contribute generously, with all its wealth, to the society of his or her time".
The bishops also recognize that there is, in this area, a serious debt. It has been stated many times that the effort to improve the quality of teaching and make it fairer, requires work that must involve the State, educational institutions, teachers, families and students: "It is urgent to pursue the research of proposals for broad consensus, to guide and direct the processes that allow to meet the right demands".
In this context, it has clearly been said that incorrect measures and verbal or physical violence are not the way to solve the problem, but only "a genuine desire for dialogue will help to solve the delicate climate of polarization that is driving the debate and mobilizations associated with it", the bishops conclude. (EC) (Agenzia Fides 25/06/2011)