Chile pushes reform of school admission system to restore merit

President José Antonio Kast has introduced a bill to overhaul Chile's School Admission System (SAE). The proposal aims to replace the current lottery‑based model with a mixed system that places academic merit and family choice at the centre of school placement. Two complementary mechanisms are outlined:

• Elección Mutua (Mutual Choice) – admissions would consider factors such as alignment with the school's educational project, prior attendance and academic performance from seventh grade, with reserved slots for priority students under the Subvención Escolar Preferencial programme and for students with disabilities or special educational needs.

• Asignación Aleatoria (Random Allocation) – the existing centralized lottery would remain only for schools that opt out of Mutual Choice and for any vacancies left after the Mutual Choice process.

Regional Government Secretary Pollyana Rivera emphasised, “Estamos proponiendo valorar el esfuerzo de los propios niños y de sus familias…”, noting public dissatisfaction with the current system (62 % of parents rate it poorly). Education Minister María Paz Arzola warned that the reform must avoid replicating past flaws and should improve educational quality while preserving transparency.

Analysts see the move as a political shift after the Boric administration’s silence on admission reforms, positioning the Kast government as seeking to restore merit‑based selection without dismantling existing structures.