He was the iconic survivor of that second cabinet change –in less than a year– of the Government of President Gabriel Boric, which took place last Friday and which marked the beginning of a new cycle in various ministries, precisely when the ruling party was coming to the end of its first year in office. Questioned and involved in several recent controversies, he was one of the big bets of the Broad Front (FA) in the cabinet and, every time he has requested it, the President has given him his support. Marco Antonio Ávila Lavanal (RD), whose management as Minister of Education has been the subject of multiple criticisms, continues to be part of the Government, causing surprise and expectation.
Official sources reveal that the permanence of the Spanish professor in the Mineduc possibly had as one of its negotiating elements a kind of shielding his authority in the ministry, promoting a new work cycle, which will be determined by the work of the new undersecretaries, Alejandra Arratia (Education) and Víctor Orellana (Higher Education). Both authorities are, from now on, his “new squires”, and the Government’s commitment to prevent the fall of Ávila. It is part of the Executive’s design to try to take charge of historical demands and amend the course of a portfolio that, in the first year of management, has not met expectations, mainly related to the progress of emblematic projects of its program.
In fact, the arrival of the new undersecretary and the new undersecretary could eventually be a technical injection that allows them to improve their management or, rather, a grave, as they fall under the shadow of the new authorities. Arratia and Orellana will be in charge of “shielding” the Secretary of State and trying to optimize the work within the Ministry, a key and flagship institution, for several decades with problems associated with its administration.
In this regard, among various political, union and union actors linked in one way or another to the demands of education, there is a coincidence that a possible critical and severe analysis of the administration of Minister Ávila during 2022, does not prevent believing in the possibility of that the head of Education can empower himself and rebuild a leadership, one that the Democratic Revolution (RD) had placed on his shoulders –his party– and the Broad Front since the first months of the Government, and even before, when they decided to hand over the keys to a ministry that is as complex as it is coveted. Today, his figure is weakened, and trying to rebuild his leadership is the great challenge of this “new cycle” heading the Ministry of Education.
From the College of Teachers, therefore, they considered his permanence in the cabinet as an “opportunity that Minister Ávila has to give a boost to his management.” In addition, in the opinion of the teachers, his permanence in the Government lays the foundations for a new cycle in the Ministry of Education, from the entry of new undersecretaries. In this regard, in the opinion of the president of said union, Carlos Díaz Marchant, although he acknowledges a permanent communication with Minister Ávila during his first year in office, he assures that “this has not been accompanied by concrete, timely and rapid responses to the various problems that we have been raising throughout the year 2022”.
The slow response to the demands and the delay in the progress of the legislative process of the projects in Congress, is a criticism of Ávila’s management in his first year at the Mineduc that they also share in the Confederation of Chilean Students (Confech). . For Rocío Lecaros Gallegos, spokesperson for this, the largest student organization in the country and which brings together the majority of the student federations of Chilean universities, “the challenges of the Ministry of Education are transversal at all levels of the educational system, and they are all equally urgent.” This because –in his judgment– “For years education has been in crisis, and for that very reason, there are different sub-secretaries to work in the search for solutions.”
Likewise, and with regard to higher education, the student leader assured that “the challenge is very clear and cannot go into the background, which is to advance in the cancellation of the CAE, also in the new financing model, always advancing towards universal gratuitousness”. In addition, the spokeswoman for the Confech called on the ruling party to connect with her story. “It is important to remember that this government comes from emblematic struggles and, therefore, cannot remain in debt on these issues,” Lecaros said.
Precisely, and in terms of the progress of the controversial project to forgive the Loan with State Guarantee (CAE) –one of the historical demands of the student group–, this Tuesday the minister Marco Antonio Ávila appeared publicly, after being ratified in the cabinet, to clarify that for the moment it is not a priority for the ministry that leads to work on this initiative. “We have a set of commitments as a government program, however, it is important to point out that we have educational reactivation as a priority,” emphasized the Secretary of State.
“We work hard to have a budget and put the education system on its feet,” added Minister Ávila –in relation to the increase in the school dropout rate in recent times–assuring that the cancellation of the CAE is not an idea that has been completely ruled out, and that it will be evaluated and worked on during the administration of President Gabriel Boric, since -in your opinion– “within the lines of work there are commitments”. Finally, the head of Education stressed that “there is the historical debt to teachers; the educational debt, where the CAE is and adjustments to the Public Education Law. Everything will be implemented to the extent that we have the necessary resources to fulfill our commitments.”
New undersecretaries, new cycle
There are not a few questions about the agenda that Minister Marco Antonio Ávila promoted during 2022 leading the Ministry of Education, and among those critical voices, the former Minister of Education in the Government of Ricardo Lagos, former DC militant and today a political reference for Amarillos por Chile, Mariana Aylwin, considers that during the first year “the minister (Ávila) was very lost, with an agenda far from the priority, in an educational emergency after a pandemic, such as ending Bicentennial High Schools, ending Simce, literacy in sexuality”.
Likewise, in Aylwin’s opinion, “finally, as a result of pressure from educational organizations, he assumed that the priority is educational recovery. The learning gap is enormous, even more so when Chile was one of the countries that lost the most classes, with disastrous consequences in desertion, non-attendance, violence, mental health. I hope that the commission that was recently established and the announcements that have been made for the reactivation, have the necessary resources”. In addition, the former Minister of Education considers that “the arrival of Undersecretary Arratia is a factor of hope. In higher education, this is a government with no agenda other than the CAE, and the President has already admitted that he will not be able to fulfill his campaign promise to condone it , because it was an unfulfillable promise, like so many he made before assuming the responsibility of governing”.
Similarly, in the opinion of the deputy Juan Santana (PS), still president of the Chamber’s Education Commission, but who will cease to be so in the coming weeks –and that he had been accused by the UDI of “not ensuring” the integrity of Deputy Delgado after the noisy discussion with Minister Ávila last week–, there is a very robust agenda in legislative matters, in which –in his opinion– the work of the Executive should be focused. “In fact, we are processing the project that puts an end to the double teacher evaluation, which has been a long-standing demand raised by the teaching staff, and we hope that the reform of the new public education law will soon be introduced in order to gradually improve the functioning of the local education services”, assures the parliamentarian.
Notwithstanding that, Santana appreciates that the ministry’s accent has been placed on what –in his opinion– It is today the priority, which is precisely the educational reactivation, with immediate challenges that must be faced, such as absenteeism, school dropout, learning recovery, and the climates within educational establishments, among other issues. And precisely the greatest expectations regarding Ávila’s performance in the Mineduc have to do with his experience as an educator and the image of a close minister, who –in opinion of analysts– it was diluted in the second part of his first year in office.
From the opposition, meanwhile, deputy Marcia Raphael, deputy head of the RN bench and member of the Chamber’s Education Commission, stated that she has “no doubt” that Minister Ávila’s permanence corresponds to a “more ideological” decision what a technique”. In the opinion of the parliamentarian, “today the situation of the educational system is serious, there is absenteeism and school dropouts, in addition to poor quality education. 52% of children in second grade do not read. We have school violence, a worrying situation mental health and, finally, many issues that concern parents. However, the minister (Ávila) is absolutely wrong when he points out that among his priorities is the creation of a sexual training program. Today, once ratified in his portfolio, he has to make progress on the issues that really matter and that are necessary,” he says.
There are certainties in the ruling party that the challenge is enormous and, from now on, the role that both Alejandra Arratia, as the new Undersecretary of Education, and Víctor Orellana, as Undersecretary of Higher Education, will play will be key in this new stage. focused on educational reactivation. Could this decision hinder the progress of historical projects and campaign promises such as the cancellation of the CAE? How important will it be for the Executive to reposition Marco Antonio Ávila as a political figure of projection? That’s in we’ll see.
