Un sistema de acceso a la educación superior técnico-profesional: ideas a partir del caso de Chile

In this article we describe the main challenges involved in implementing an admission system in the vocational-technical sub-sector of higher education. Although this task is increasingly necessary for several countries, it has become urgent in the case of Chile, where the recently sanctioned Law 21.091 of 2018 established such implementation as mandatory for a significant number of institutions. The lack of tradition, the vast offer of programs and the experience of a decentralized and non-selective system —in spite of its merits— constitute objective obstacles that add to the apprehensions of institutions that may benefit from a non-coordinated system. Consideration should be given to a transformation of the proposal to implement this system in the VT sub-sector, which is valid for a vast array of institutions, including non-selective universities. This may minimize the cost of system design errors. We suggest it should be: i) centralized, which would reduce the application process costs; and ii) flexible, which would allow the use of different instruments in tune with the institutions’ particular interests. We propose a two phase system: firstly, a centralized application process through a single platform and subsequent enrollment in the program assigned according to entrance vacancies; the second phase, to be started upon completion of the first phase, similar to the process still in place for the majority of the vocational-technical sub-sectors in Latin America, with direct enrollment, without an application process.