The IPE allows foreigners to be recognized as regular students and is in force while regularizing their migration situations, which allows access to the same rights as other students with respect to school feeding programs, school texts, National Student Card (school pass), Me Conecto para Aprender Program, school insurance, among others.

This identifier also guarantees admission to any kindergarten run by the National Board of Kindergartens (JUNJI) or the Integra Foundation, registration for free exams to validate studies, participation in the flexible form of adult education, as well as application for recognition of studies carried out abroad.

In addition, the IPE allows participation in the new School Admission System (SAE), a virtual platform for accessing enrollment in an educational establishment. For this process, an IPA (Proxy Provisional Identifier) may also be created for the parent, grandparent or simple guardian of the foreign student, in the event that he/she does not have a RUN, to link it to the student's IPE and apply for enrollment.

The IPE is requested in the Citizen Assistance Offices of the MINEDUC, distributed throughout the country. In the case of preschool education, the JUNJI or Integra Foundation is responsible for providing the identifier. As a requirement in both cases, a valid document must be presented that allows proof of identity, either passport or national identity document. In exceptional cases, an IPE may be given to minors who do not have such documentation, to enable their enrollment process and thus not affect their right to education.

While the immigration status of the students is regularized, the establishment and the Ministry of Education must certify the approved courses, indicating the IPE and the identity document of the student's country of origin (passport or national identity document). Starting from the 2017 school year, schools can declare students with an IPE in official communications, allowing the Ministry of Education to have the necessary information to issue certificates of study.

Finally, students with an IPE can qualify as priority students, since they meet the criterion letter d) of the Law on Preferential School Subsidy – Sep (Law No. 20.248, of February 1, 2008), in relation to their condition of poverty and rurality of the commune in which they live. The student who has received this preferential condition maintains it even when he/she obtains the Chilean RUN and makes the change in the General Student Information System (SIGE). They can also be part of the School Integration Program – PIE (Inclusion Law No. 20,845), which is an educational strategy with an inclusive approach, whose purpose is to favor the participation and achievement of the learning objectives of all students, providing resources and equalizing educational opportunities, especially for those who have greater needs for support to progress in their learning.

• Ordinary Official Letter No. 02/000894 (November 7, 2016), which updates instructions on the entry, permanence and exercise of the rights of migrant students in educational establishments.
• Ordinary Office No. 0329 (May 25, 2017), which complements Ordinary Office No. 894, in relation to migrants who require to certify and complete their school-level studies in establishments that provide education for young people and adults.
• Ordinary Official Letter No. 0747 (August 17, 2017), which regulates the validation process of studies of young people and foreign adults.
• Exempt Decree No. 2272, which approves procedures for the recognition of studies.
• Ordinary Official Letter No. 915/2018, which provides instructions on the creation of a Provisional Identifier (IPA).
• Ordinary Official Letter No. 255/2019, which updates provisional enrollment procedures and study validation process.
• Ordinary Official Letter No. 898/2019, which provides additional guidance for the SAE application process for foreign students without RUN.

Interview with key informants conducted on March 1, 2021:

• Verónica Chaverini – Head of Migrant Inclusion of the General Education Division – Ministry of Education of Chile. MINEDUC (2020). Temporary School Identifier - Questions and answers, three years after its implementation. Santiago, April 2020. Available at: https://migrantes.mineduc.cl/wp-content/uploads/sites/88/2020/05/IDENTIFICADOR-PROVISORIO-ESCOLAR.pdf

Good practices of educational inclusion of migrants

Author: UNESCO IIEP Buenos Aires, Oficina para América Latina; Education Cannot Wait; United Nations Children's Fund.

Year of publication: 2021.