The COVID-19 pandemic is pushing the world into a devastating economic and social scenario. The consequences of this crisis largely impact children and teenagers, both now and in the future. School closures have particularly affected vulnerable children, deepening the effects of their unequal socio-economic circumstances. In this context, the actions governments are taking to protect their citizens’ right to education will be crucial to reducing or exacerbating inequality in the long term. The authors of this article analyse the case of Chile, one of the most successful countries in Latin America regarding educational achievement and enrolment, as well as the most segregated educational system among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). How is the right to education being guaranteed for all during the COVID-19 pandemic? Are the measures taken by the Ministry of Education mitigating or intensifying long-term inequalities? Based on the 4-A scheme described by Katarina Tomasevski, which conceptualises national governments’ obligations to guarantee the right to education, the authors examine the normative basis of Chile’s market-oriented educational system (1980–2013) as well as the latest educational reform (2014–2017), which aimed to promote the right to quality education, and critically analyse the measures adopted by the Chilean Ministry of Education in response to the pandemic. The authors conclude that Chile is facing a major challenge to ensure the right to education for all. A new social contract is required to reduce structural inequalities, and to avoid a potential setback in human rights.

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El sistema educativo chileno se encuentra ante un gran desafío para enfrentar la creciente diversidad estudiantil. Normativas recientes exigen a las instituciones ser más inclusivas, pero los estudios acerca del punto de partida son escasos. La presente investigación explora las creencias, actitudes y prácticas de directivos y docentes en 50 establecimientos municipales de la Región Metropolitana. Los hallazgos de esta investigación muestran que directores y docentes han incorporado nociones de inclusión y diversidad en sus concepciones educativas, con distintos enfoques (teórico, social, práctico y pedagógico). Por otra parte, los docentes han incorporado prácticas inclusivas en su quehacer cotidiano, pero con dificultades. En este contexto, el trabajo en equipo entre los docentes disciplinares y docentes de educación diferencial resulta imperioso.

The high immigration wave that Chile experienced in the last decade, has defied its largely segregated educational system. Even though Chile has subscribed the 4th Sustainable Development Goal to ensure an equitable, inclusive and quality education, the current educational structure as well as the lack of an inter-cultural educational policy, are obstacles to ensure the right to education for all. This article aims to provide evidence on the conditions under which immigrant students learn in Chile, by analyzing their performance in writing -a potential mediator (or obstacle) for schooling -, their learning barriers (beliefs, attitudes and teacher expectations), and socio-emotional wellbeing. Our results demonstrate that immigrant students are divided in two achievement groups, which face different barriers according to their country of origin. On the one hand, students from Haiti, Bolivia and Dominican Republic are more vulnerable. On the other hand, students from Peru, Venezuela and Colombia outperform their peers in writing, have higher levels of self-esteem and self-efficiency, and teachers have greater educational expectations for them. This evidence suggests the need to inquire the intersections between language and race related to discrimination and prejudice.

This study drew on Chilean teacher survey responses from TALIS 2018 data on teacher motivation in order to examine the extent to which these data reveal different motivational profiles among Chilean teachers. Also, it explores the influence of those profiles on quality teachers’ instruction. As a conceptual scaffold, this article uses Agency Theory and Public Service Motivation theory to conceptualize and explore the data. Using latent classes analysis, multivariate regressions with survey methods, results showed three different motivational profiles: utility-laden, modal, and socially-laden. From these profiles, modal teachers seem to produce better teaching quality compared with the others profiles. These results suggest that the teachers’ profiles are more diverse when it comes to work motivation and teaching quality than what it is described in the literature. These findings give interesting insights for policymakers and school leaders to better understand the teaching workforce and think in diverse governance and teacher management tools. It also opens a set of interesting questions about how to motivate the teacher workforce in Chile.