The Secretary of State, together with the Education Minister Nicolás Eyzaguirre and 21 personalities from the world of culture and art, participated in a breakfast meeting with the President to discuss the reincorporation of art education into the school curriculum.
"It was an extraordinary conversation, full of incentives to think in an inevitable relationship, which is the linking of education and the arts, in a time when Chile has posed a fundamental paradigm shift," said the Minister of culture, Claudia Barattini after participating in a breakfast organised by President Michelle Bachelet.
The meeting to discuss the return of art education in the context of education reform included the following participants: Minister of Education Nicolás Eyzaguirre and Pablo Simonetti, Antonia Zegers, Blanca Lewin, Héctor Noguera, Miguel Littin, Marco Antonio de la Parra, Paulina García, Manuel García, Pía Barros, Claudia Di Girólamo, Héctor Morales, Nicolás Acuña, Tatiana Gaviola, Jorge López Sotomayor (President of the Association of Directos and Script writer of Chile), Andrea Gutiérrez (President of SIDARTE), Víctor Sáez (SECH), Carmen Berenguer, Esperanza Silva, Alejandro Goic, Bruna Truffa and Demian Schopf.
After the meeting it was announced that the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CNCA) and the Ministry of Education will form a working group to develop a plan to promote arts education in public schools for the next 3 years.
"The arts have a fundamental reason to re-enter in the education system not only through the curriculum, but in a comprehensive and transversal manner. We must create a public education where we form critical citizens, thinkers with creative ability and in that the arts have much to contribute, "said the Minister Claudia Barattini.
President Bachelet thanked the participation of artists in the meeting and said she had "listened very carefully about the importance that in the development of the education reform there is a component regarding individuals as a whole, where clearly the humanities, art and culture are a central component. "
Minister Nicolás Eyzaguirre said the reform promoted by his ministry is looking for a comprehensive development of children and youth. "We are looking for an education that is not based solely on market criteria. It means to refocus education towards citizenship learning and not just to producting children who can answer standardized tests, "said the Minister of Education.
CONSENSUS
The invited artists were happy about the meeting. Actress Blanca Lewin emphasized the heterogeneity of the guests, because "each contributed from their area, and there was a general consensus: that art is essential in the formation of people in any society and that can only take us to development. "
Manuel Garcia explained that his motivation to participate in the meeting was that it was seeking to modify the curriculum "enriching the hours of philosophy, drawing, painting, dance, and in general, all the arts." He added: "The objective that this meeting has to have is is that the arts are part of the enrichment of the human being, holistically. Arts are linked to knowledge in general, not only to form more artists. It's a bad deal for the country, if we want to have the best engineers, the best architects, the best lawyers to disconnect these people from the knowledge of the arts. "
Actor Héctor Noguera said that "we decided to continue working together. The President and Ministers Barattini and Eyzaguirre saw that the group that was here is very willing to work and they said they would remember our words of enthusiasm. "
Film director Tatiana Gaviola said that the relationship between education and the arts can be channeled through various routes. "There are several initiatives that can be performed throughout Chile with the aim of being better people, people who have the ability to not only learn content but also to expand their worlds and to develop new forms of perception and relationship with others and with the country. "