BHP Foundation joins Sumar Saberes, a private-public alliance to help identify and scale up best practices in education in Chile

Sumar Saberes is a private-public alliance formed with the objective of driving significant progress in education and improving the learning of fundamental skills in Chilean schools by identifying and scaling best practices in education.

The alliance, set by the Chilean Education Ministry and implemented by Fundación Chile, will initially work on two lines of action.

The first one is finding and curating the most effective initiatives that support improved learning at all levels, from kindergarten to secondary education, and for all the curriculum subjects.

The collection of this information is key as in 2017 a mapping of philanthropic and social investments in Chile showed that 37 per cent of funding was allocated to initiatives in education. Despite the investments, the fragmentation and scope of the initiatives have been a barrier to scaling solutions and amplifying their positive impacts.

“The private and philanthropic sectors contribute with innovative and relevant responses to the challenges facing citizens. We enable organizations to test, adjust, adapt and refine their solutions with agility and flexibility. But we are limited in our ability to scale solutions. Public-private alliances are needed for greater and coordinated reach.” said Alejandra Garcés, BHP Foundation’s Chile program director.

Mapping out the conditions that enabled the initiatives’ success, how they have been implemented in different contexts, how they have been scaled up and made sustainable, and the evidence built around them is Sumar Saberes’ second focus area.

“This will enable school communities to know what really works and make decisions based on the available evidence, which will also contribute to increasing the effectiveness of investment in education”, said Nicolás Cataldo, Chile’s Minister of Education.

Collaboration beyond sectors’ agendas

"The transformation of Chile's education system is a collective responsibility. Our efforts, whether from civil society, the Chilean government, or the private sector, should be designed to go beyond our time. The Sumar Sabers alliance is a long-term shared commitment to guarantee that children and young people in Chile will have access to the education needed to help them to face the challenges of the 21st century”, added Alejandra.

BHP Foundation is joining Sumar Saberes as a member of the strategic committee and with the Collective Effect project, which will be part of the technical board.

The alliance is also made up of the Anglo American Foundation, Fundación Educacional Oportunidad, Fundación Luksic, Fundación MC, Unesco, Unicef, IDB, CAF, the Centro UC de Políticas Públicas, the Centro de Investigación Avanzada en Educación de la Universidad de Chile (CIAE), the Dirección de Educación Pública and the Agencia de la Calidad. Sumar Sabers is supported by the Oxford University's Hub for Global Education "What Works".

Fundación Chile is supported by BHP Foundation’s Chile Country Program that works on connecting public and private sectors and creating new partnerships and models that support the inclusion of 21st century skills in the national curriculum. Learn more