April, 2017
Thematic Colloquia on Health and Primary education in Chile was held at Catholic University
In the context of the Friends-UC board meeting in Chile, two thematic colloquia on public-private collaboration dilemmas and the role of the UC in the fields of Health and Education were held at the Catholic University. The Colloquia were attended by Rector Sánchez, members of the Board of Friends, UC officials and academics, and special guests.
Public-private partnership is based on the idea that the construction of the public sphere is not restricted to the State, that other stakeholders can participate in the construction of the common good and production of public goods, such as health and education.
The first colloquium dealt with the challenges of primary health in Chile and how they can be supported by public-private partnership, and the contribution of the UC. The presentations sought to analyze, for example, what are the main challenges or barriers faced by primary health and what are the future steps that could foster these public-private partnerships. The speakers included Jorge Jiménez, former Minister of Health; Claudio Sapelli, Director of the UC Institute of Economics; Felipe Heusser, Vice Dean of the UC Faculty of Medicine and Medical Director of the UC CHRISTUS Health Network.
The second colloquium referred to primary education in our country and the role the University can have. On this occasion, the questions that were addressed focused on identifying the main challenges that arise with public-private partnerships and what future steps could promote such public-private partnerships. In this colloquium, the speakers were Mario Waissbluth, President of Educación 2020; Verónica Cabezas, member of the UC Faculty of Education; Ignacio Irarrázaval, Director of the UC Center for Public Policies.
Both colloquia succeeded in creating a space for dialogue and discussion regarding the meaning of the public and public-private cooperation in the context of health care and school education, sharing the experience of the Catholic University and seeking to establish possible development paths in these contexts.