educational leadership.

“Educational earthquake”, “deep crisis”, “excessive impact”, are some of the expressions used by Chilean figures to try to reflect the effects that the pandemic has generated in the Chilean educational system. Regarding the consequences on student learning, there are still no formal and consolidated data, but all educational workers agree that the gaps and difficulties other places where they can, increasing the chances of being part of gangs and/or other high-risk groups. in student learning are enormous. In another area of the school environment, the Ministry of Education shared data stating that more than 50,000 children did not return to school in 2022, after a year and a half of distance learning. Additionally, around 40% of students presented a high level of non-attendance, a situation that deeply affects their continuity in the educational process, and complaints related to discipline and behaviour problems of students within schools rose by almost 30% during 2022.

The situation seems critical and even desperate, but we cannot lose hope. As Gabriela Mistral, one of our most emblematic educators and poets of the 20th century, said “children's education is today, tomorrow will be late”, and there are many things that we can and must do.

The Ministry of Education has implemented some programs and plans to improve student attendance and reintegrate children who have dropped out of school. They have also provided guidance to school leaders to address student behaviour challenges and will inject more resources for these purposes in 2023.

All these problems show that the school does not represent a place of safety and protection for many Chilean children and young people. It reflects that students do not have a significant relationship with their school communities, that they don´t feel motivated to attend school and that they don´t feel part of them. If young people don´t belong in their schools, they will try to find

These efforts must be complemented by the critical role of school leaders. More than ever, we need them to make their best contribution to the country and society. They have a great opportunity to rebuild their communities and transform them into places where the well-being of all members of the schools is at the centre.

They also need to enrich the educational experiences to engage and delight not only the students, but to the teachers as well, because they have also experienced a very challenging period and many of them are exhausted and demotivated because they see no signs of improvement.

The challenge is enormous, but if school leaders encourage collaboration, teamwork, added to the strong sense of ethical and moral commitment that characterizes them, the possibilities of improvement are great.