Strength through diversity: Country spotlight report for Chile

Chile is now working to develop stronger integration processes after being largely unprepared for the influx of immigrants who arrived in recent years. In the education sector, evidence suggests important differences in the academic and well-being outcomes between students with an immigrant background and native Chilean students. While available data on immigrant students in Chile is limited, these disparities highlight the need to reflect on the types of policies that can reverse emerging gaps, advance the educational and long-term success of students and promote social cohesion. As such, the Ministry of Education invited the OECD Strength through Diversity project to develop this Spotlight Report, which examines four policy priorities regarding the inclusion of immigrant and refugee students in the country: (1) School choice and segregation; (2) Language training; (3) Capacity building; and (4) Inclusive education. The findings of this report reflect existing OECD work on education policy in Chile and in the area of migration policy. The report also draws on national data, questionnaire results on policies and practices implemented in Chile to support the educational achievement and socio emotional well-being of immigrant students and examples of policies and practices in peer-learner countries and regions that were collected through desk based research (notably from Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United States). Finally, interviews conducted by the OECD Strength through Diversity team during a review mission and a stakeholder workshop that took place in Santiago in June 2018 help inform the report.