In days when citizens and civil society are rapidly seeking to have their initiatives included in the new constitution, 19 foundations grouped in Acción Colectiva por la Educación are calling for the urgent collection of 15,000 signatures to ensure the right to comprehensive, quality, inclusive and free education.
A total of 19 educational foundations from civil society, grouped in Acción Colectiva por la Educación, presented the Iniciativa Popular de Norma (IPN) "Por una educación integral, de calidad, inclusiva, equitativa y gratuita", with which they seek to reach 15,000 citizen signatures so that the articles can be discussed in the Constitutional Convention and incorporated into the new Constitution.
This is initiative 43.926, which proposes seven points to be included in the new Magna Carta, from the fact that the State must guarantee all people the right to a comprehensive, equitable, inclusive, non-discriminatory, quality education, with a gender perspective, and with territorial, cultural and linguistic relevance. The proposal also recognises the role of teachers in the new Constitution, ensuring initial and continuous training and adequate working conditions for teachers, male and female educators, something unprecedented in very few constitutions worldwide.
In addition, it establishes that "the State shall ensure compulsory and free education between the second level of kindergarten transition and secondary education, extending free education from the nursery school level and, progressively, to higher education" (check the full article here).
The articles are based on the results of the citizens' process "Tenemos que Hablar de Educación" (We need to talk about education) - also promoted by Acción Colectiva between 2020 and 2021 - which involved the participation of nearly 8,000 teachers, parents, students, managers and funders from all over the country.
"For us at Acción Colectiva por la Educación, it is very satisfying to lead this Popular Initiative for Standard, because in addition to being born from the educational communities themselves, it also has the support of 19 organisations with years of experience in the field, talking and getting to know closely the different realities that coexist in our education system, from kindergarten education, hospital schools, rural education, among others. This makes it a solid and grounded proposal, created with and for the educational communities of our country," said Gonzalo Plaza, representative of Acción Colectiva por la Educación and Executive Director of Fundación 99.
The popular initiative already has nearly 3,000 signatures of support and has the backing of various figures linked to the field of education and children on social networks. However, they need to reach at least 15,000 signatures for it to be discussed in the Convention.
"Today more than ever, the children and young people of our country need our support. We cannot leave education out of the discussion. We invite you to support this popular initiative for a standard that was built from a participatory process from which the voices of thousands of people from educational communities in our country were rescued. Let's make those dreams and desires of achieving quality, equitable, inclusive and free education for all a reality", said Marcela Marzolo, Executive Director of Fundación Educacional Oportunidad and also representative of Acción Colectiva por la Educación.
The organisations driving this Popular Initiative of Norma, as part of Acción Colectiva por la Educación are: Elige Educar, Fundación 99, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Educación 2020, the CIAE of the University of Chile, Súmate, Crecer con todos, Mis Talentos, Arzobispado de Santiago, Fundación Chile, Tu clase tu país, Fundación Portas, Co-crecer, ONG Canales, Fundación Re-Imagina, Diálogo País, Didaksis, Fundación Origen and Momento Constituyente.
| What is a Popular Norm Initiative? The IPN is one of the mechanisms for popular participation in the drafting of the New Constitution. It is a suggestion of a text that, with the support of 15,000 signatures from at least 4 regions of the country, can be discussed and voted directly by the Constitutional Convention. Organisations and individuals can submit an initiative, and after being analysed and admitted, it can be disseminated in order to gather the necessary support so that it can be part of the construction of the New Constitution. Each person has the right to support 7 IPN. |
| How to support Collective Action for Education's IPN? Go to this link, on the right hand side, you will find a green button that says "Support". When you click on this button, the system will ask you to authenticate yourself, either by entering your unique password or the serial number of your ID card. Once you have done this you will return to our IPN website and just click on the green button. To support 6 other IPNs you can click here and search with keywords for the topics you are most interested in. The deadline for signing up is 01 February. |
