At the Centro Educacional Pudahuel, President Bachelet initiated the Program for Accompaniment and Effective Access to Higher Education (PACE, its acronym in Spanish) for the Metropolitan Region, a measure that was inspired by the Propedéutico Program of our University and that seeks to restore the right to access higher education to students from vulnerable areas.
In the company of Nicolás Eyzaguirre, the Minister of Education, and Dr. Juan Manuel Zolezzi, the President of Universidad de Santiago, President Bachelet said that the program “provides youngsters with what they deserve” and “rewards good students of municipal and subsidized schools.”
President Zolezzi said that at the government making this initiative a public policy, the University “has responded once again to the country and to the most vulnerable Chilean people.”
By publicly recognizing our University, President Michelle Bachelet made official the Program for Accompaniment and Effective Access to Higher Education PACE/Usach for the Metropolitan Region, which she described as “extremely important” for the country.
This public policy was inspired by the work done by the Propedéutico Program –the Preparatory Program of Universidad de Santiago that started in 2007.
During the opening ceremony held on October 3rd at the Centro Educacional Pudahuel, with the presence of Nicolás Eyzaguirre, the Minister of Education, and Juan Manuel Zolezzi, the President of Universidad de Santiago, the head of state said that the PACE/Usach “provides youngsters with what they deserve” and “rewards good students of municipal and subsidized schools while it seeks to level up the students’ knowledge.”
She also said that the idea of implementing this policy arose from her visit to the Instituto Femenino Superior de Comercio last year, when President Juan Manuel Zolezzi informed about the successful experience of Universidad de Santiago’s Propedéutico Program.
The head of state explained that “In partnership with Universidad de Santiago, we have been working at the Metropolitan Region with public high schools in the municipalities of Pudahuel, Santiago, Lo Prado, Talagante, Estación Central y Maipú and also at schools in Región de O´Higgins, in the municipalities of Mostazal, Graneros and Rancagua.”
“In 2016 we will have the first PACE students’ class entering higher education and we will extend the support to 12th grade students,” she said. “During the next years, the program will continue growing: we will include 339 high schools in 2015, to reach 885 high schools by the end of my (presidential) term. Only in the Metropolitan Region we will cover up to 230 schools,” she added.
The PACE/Usach program for the Metropolitan Region will initially prepare students from twelve high schools and it will continue giving them support once they enter higher education by means of a leveling period that will enable them to stay in the system until they graduate.
Institutional leadership
During the ceremony, the Minister of Education said that this initiative is another example of the inclusion policies that the government is developing and he expressed his “particular gratitude to Universidad de Santiago de Chile, for its leadership.”
He also recognized the role of the director of the PAIEP Program of Universidad de Santiago, Francisco Javier Gil, as one of the Propedéutico’s promoters.
For his part, President Juan Manuel Zolezzi said to the young audience: “Today you have the possibility of starting a fruitful stage, full of opportunities, thanks to your own talent, effort and self-improvement spirit.”
“We will provide you with all the tools you require to become who you dream to be, in company of your families and your dear ones,” he said. “Our beloved Universidad de Santiago de Chile, heir to UTE and EAO, has responded once again to the country and to the most vulnerable Chilean people,” he added.
Translated by Marcela Contreras
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