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“We need a new social contract for education, one that can repair injustices and eliminate the multiple existing gaps, while transforming the future,” was the main conclusion of the report presented in Chile by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in August 2022, and made public in La Araucanía on May 25 in an event held in the Aula Magna of the Universidad Mayor.

Precisely, this report, which was published in Spanish thanks to the collaboration of the SM Foundation, led universities present in the region to establish an unprecedented collaboration network, where the Universities Mayor, de La Frontera, Catholic of Temuco, Autonomous of Chile, Santo Tomás, Arturo Prat and Catholic of Villarrica, will work directly with the Local Public Education Service Costa Araucanía, to strengthen and improve public school education in this territory.

“The Educational Reactivation Plan in its various stages has had regional universities as a strategic ally, therefore the report presented today is in line with what has been implemented by the Ministry of Education. We appreciate the commitment and trust in the potential that these virtuous alliances have for public education,” said the Regional Ministerial Secretary of Education, María Isabel Mariñanco Nahuelcura.

“Our Technical Collaboration Network for the Strengthening of Public Education bases its work on the socio-cultural context of girls, boys, and adolescents, in this way, the focus will be on the comprehensive development of students within the framework of joint, dialogic, and coordinated commitment to the achievement of common goals. We hope to respond to the situated needs and interests of the local community and its environment to favor equitable conditions and the promotion of a collaborative, inclusive, and respectful educational work environment. This alliance gives us the opportunity to materialize the social function we have as regional higher education entities," said Sandra Garrido Osses, Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Catholic University of Temuco.

Published in Spanish thanks to cooperation with the SM Foundation, the report "Reimagining Our Futures Together: A New Social Contract for Education" was prepared by an international commission of education experts convened by UNESCO and with inputs from over one million people from around the world.

At its core, besides warning that the current educational system has failed, the report proposes a paradigm shift in relation to knowledge, education, and learning in a world of increasing complexity, uncertainty, and precariousness.

Looking forward to 2050 and beyond, the report advocates for re-examining and rethinking education to promote fairer and more sustainable scenarios based on two fundamental principles: guaranteeing the right to quality education throughout life and reinforcing education as a public project and common good. It's an urgent call to decision-makers, school communities, and society at large to establish a new social contract where education serves as a transformational force in a world whose sustainability is under threat.

To achieve this new social contract for education, UNESCO's research unveils five key points:

1. Pedagogy should be organized around the principles of cooperation, collaboration, and solidarity.
2. Curricula should be oriented towards ecological, intercultural, and interdisciplinary learning, and aim to educate for human rights, active citizenship, and democratic participation.
3. The teaching profession should be further professionalized, with teachers recognized as knowledge creators and key figures in educational and social transformation.
4. Schools should become safe educational spaces that foster care, inclusion, equity, and both individual and collective well-being.
5. Lifelong learning should be a right that is upheld throughout life. Therefore, educational opportunities should be offered in different natural, cultural, and social settings, both physical and virtual.

Patricio Solano Ocampo, the director of the Public Education Service Costa Araucanía, stated: “For our Local Public Education Service Costa Araucanía, this is a milestone that represents a reality-focused effort where there is a collective push to reduce the socio-educational gaps present in the 5 communes we encompass. We greatly value the commitment from the regional universities for public and quality education, their motivation in building knowledge, and their increasingly active role in understanding the characteristics of the region and contributing to our students' learning for life.”