ChileEducation at a Glance

StructureThe Ministry of Education is responsible for pre-primary, primary, and secondary schooling in Chile. There is division of schools: municipal schools administered by local governments and financed by the state, private subsidized schools, and private non-subsidized schools. The education system is very much divided along socioeconomic lines with low income groups concentrated in the municipal schools.Quality/PerformanceChile stands out as a clear leader according to national and international tests, outperforming its counterparts in the region on the all-important Programme for International Student Assessment examination. Improvements in quality have led to increased enrollment and school completion rates. According to the OECD, the country still lags behind overall in terms of educational achievement in comparison to established countries (U.S., Japan, Canada, amongst others). ConcernsChiles education system is the most segregated between richer and poorer households. There is a significant amount of inequity in learning outcomes across the socioeconomic echelons. Only 68 percent of students from the poorest families met the basic proficiency mark in math on the international PISA exam in 2012, compared to 97 percent of students from the richest families, and the relationship between socioeconomic status and PISA performance is higher in Chile than any other OECD country. Chile ranks last in the OECD for the number of resilient studentsthose who come from their countrys poorest 25 percent but still manage to score in the top quarter internationally (only 1.7 percent of Chiles poorest students). OutlookThere are significant differences across income groups in access to pre-primary and secondary education and, more importantly, large gaps in learning outcomes among upper secondary school students. Attacking inequalities and improving performance in the education system in Chile will require improving quality at the pre-primary, primary, and secondary levels of the system, and especially at the municipal schools that poor students attend. Chiles education system and particularly its higher education system is notoriously unequal. It has high quality private universities, but they are accessible to a privileged few, while the public system languishes.

BrazilEducation at a GlanceStructureThe Federal Government of Brazil regulates this countrys educational system through the Ministry of Education. The government provides each area with funding and educational guidelines, and the individual states are responsible for implementing and enforcement. Brazil is equipped with public and private sector schools. The private sector schools are of a far superior nature, but are costly, while the public sector schooling is free of charge.Quality/PerformanceQuality and equity remain a crucial challenge in Brazil, as both are essential to respond to the needs of the country and for the construction of a knowledge society. The WEF ranked the country as 88th out of a total 122 countries when it comes to education. In order to reach this most dishonorable position, Brazil has failed especially in the quality of its math and science teaching, areas in which it is among the 15 worst in the world, coming in 112th Math was already the worst subject among Brazilians, as proven in the latest Pisa, an exam conducted with students from 65 countries around the globe whose most recent results were evaluated in 2010. Brazil came in 57th place at the time in this subject area.ConcernsOne of the great obstacles to education remains the discrepancy between private and public institutions. Public schools are located in poor neighborhoods and lack the resources to improve upon infrastructure. In addition, teachers working at these public schools often do not possess the knowledge or expertise to provide students with a high quality education. In Brazil, private schools are the main recipients of government funding. Thus, the average private school student is significantly more academically advanced than his counterpart at a public school.OutlookAcross the country, there are several failures within the education system. According to studies conducted by the World Bank, many schools waste too many valuable resources and time in the classroom. Additionally, schools do not adequately develop cognitive skills that are important for development. Given these challenges, raising education expenditures does not guarantee better student achievement unless specific reforms are implemented. These changes are perhaps more necessary for impoverished regions, which concentrate systemic issues. Reforms such as the Brazils National Education Plan have the government setting its sights on addressing the issues of low PISA scores and large inequalities in educational access and quality in terms of geography, race and income.