Count to understand: Closure of rural municipals schools in chile and their implications for communities

Abstract

In response to the successive closures of rural schools, this paper reports on a study, the objective of which is to know the real magnitude of this phenomenon. The paper presents a statistical overview of elementary schools shut down in Chile between 2000 and 2016. We analyzed a number of closed and operating rural schools at national and regional level, according to Administrative dependency, School Vulnerability index and enrolment. Results show that these closures are not isolated facts, but a trend that reaches troubling dimensions. The School Vulnerability index average also demonstrates how these closures mainly affect the poorest populations. Through these findings, we interrogate the educational policy, its linkages with the weakening of rural education, and its consequences for the rural communities.