The dismissal of the director of the Atacama Public Education Local Service (SLEP) for organizing an inappropriate party has spotlighted issues in Chile's public education system. This incident highlights management problems that demand urgent reforms, according to a letter to the editor in La Tercera.
The removal of the director(s) of the SLEP Atacama following an inappropriate party for a public entity has drawn criticism and reflections on Chile's public education system. Ingrid Olea Sepúlveda, executive director of Educación 2020, wrote in a letter published in La Tercera on January 12, 2026, that this serious lapse tarnishes a system needing urgent improvements delayed by years of congressional debates.
Olea points to lessons from past and current Atacama experiences: for years, regulations lacked timely correction mechanisms or intermediate sanctions for poor management, straining governance. In this context, the bill to enhance the New Public Education has been under discussion for nearly two years and has advanced to its third legislative stage in the Senate. The initiative aims to include tools for timely prevention, correction, and sanctioning, bolstering institutional frameworks.
"Caring for public education requires learning from mistakes and acting decisively to prevent their repetition," states Olea. She emphasizes that advancing legal and management improvements is not a step back but the responsible way to solidify a system serving students. The incident underscores the need to strengthen accountability in public educational bodies amid ongoing legislative debates.