Playa Ancha University of Educational Sciences (), mostly known as Playa Ancha University or UPLA, is a public university in Valparaíso, Chile. It is part of the Chilean Traditional Universities, belonging to the Council of Rectors, a select group of twenty-five chilean universities. The university has two campuses: the major one in Playa Ancha, Valparaíso, and the second one in San Felipe.
The university seeks to train professionals with an ethical, humanistic, analytical, critical and creative profile, who can contribute to economic, cultural, social, regional and national development. The institution has a vast tradition in education and humanities areas, and it is deeply involved with the community of Valparaiso and San Felipe.
History
The university was founded in 1948 as the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile with the intention to enhance the study of languages.
The Creation of the Pedagogical Institute (1948-1973)
The Pedagogical Institute of Valparaíso was founded in 1948, as the initiative of Oscar Guzmán Escobar, a lawyer and professor at the then Valparaíso Law School of the University of Chile, with the intention of promoting the study of Spanish and some foreign languages. It was initially located on Calle Colón in Valparaíso, in the former campus of the current School of Law of the University of Valparaíso, currently the School of Social Work of the same university. It was supported in its initiative by the professors of Valparaíso Emilio Muñoz Mena, Juan Montedónico Napoli and Pedro Contreras Valderrama, among others.
In 1950, due to the quality of its activity, and after inspection by the members of the Faculty of Philosophy and Education of the University of Chile, it received by Supreme Decree the status of State cooperator in education, its exams being valid and rendered before the official commissions designated by the Casa de Bello.
The first courses taught by the then Institute were Pedagogy in Spanish, French and English, while in 1951 a Philosophy course was created and a year later the first School of Journalism in the country and a Women's Normal School were established. The University of Chile initially contributed with very outstanding professors from Santiago, such as Héctor Castillo, Ricardo Benavides, and Professor Cedomil Goic, among others, together with outstanding professors from the region such as Juan Montedónico, Carlos Pantoja Gómez, and Félix Morales Pettorino, who formed a team that took advantage, together with teachers from the Liceo Eduardo de la Barra in Valparaíso and with people who had begun their professional training in Pedagogy, emerging as assistant professors.
Due to the request of its director and the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Education of the University of Chile, Mr. Eugenio Pererira Salas, Decree No. 9,118 of October 13, 1954 was issued, on the basis of which the Pedagogical Institute of the University of Chile in Valparaíso was created, which began to function as such the following year. This document was signed by the President of the Republic, Mr. Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, and his Minister of Education, Mr. Tobías Barros Ortiz.
The Military Dictatorship (1973-1990)
On September 11, 1973, a coup d'état took place, to which, according to various accounts, the University did not offer resistance, being invaded by military assault around 12:15 by the "Maipo" 2nd Infantry Regiment, despite the fact that at that time there were already few students at the University (alerted by the situation in the country). The intervention led to massive arrests of students, academics and officials. In 1981 —by decision of the military dictatorship— the Valparaíso branch of the University of Chile was separated from its main campus (located in the city of Santiago de Chile), creating the University of Valparaíso first. Two months later, in a second split, the Faculty of Education and Letters was transformed into the Instituto Profesional Academia Superior de Ciencias Pedagógicas de Valparaíso (Professional Institute of the Higher Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Valparaíso). This transition meant the significant loss of its infrastructure and the allocation of a reduced state contribution (0.6% of the total direct fiscal contribution), in addition to other problems arising from the policies and definitions implemented by the authoritarian regime that affected academics, officials and students.
Law 18,434 of 4 September 1985, created the Playa Ancha University, which succeeded the Academia Superior de Ciencias Pedagógicas de Valparaíso and the University of Chile.