Rectors took stock of the 136 days of mobilizations

26/09/2011
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For top university authorities, it is time for students to capitalize on their achievements and participate in higher education reform.

The rectors Víctor Pérez, from the University of Chile, Ignacio Sánchez, from the Catholic University, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, from the University of Santiago and Álvaro Rojas from the University of Talca, gave an assessment of the four months of student mobilizations.

The members of the Executive Committee of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities agreed that the students have achieved substantial gains through the mobilizations and that it is time to solidify the progress.
“It is time to honor the commitments that have been made so far. At some point, the Government pointed out the importance of the Superintendency issue, and we believe that this needs to translate into something concrete in the short term, as well as the new treatment of state universities, student aid and loans, and a law that regulates lobbying in Chile,” explained Rector Víctor Pérez, Executive Vice President of CRUCH.
Rector Álvaro Rojas emphasized that the students succeeded in placing educational issues on the agenda—issues that were present in society but had not been so explicitly addressed. “Putting the issue of public education and profit-making into the national debate is a success. Furthermore, (the students) moved beyond instrumental measures—more loans, more funding, more resources for universities—and raised substantive issues,” Rector Rojas stressed.

Role of university rectors in student conflict

The rectors also analyzed the role that the Council of Rectors has played in the student conflict and pointed out that there have been both successes and failures.
In this regard, Rector Ignacio Sánchez highlighted as a positive point that CRUChH has consistently expressed its willingness to bridge differences, “We have always been willing to participate by uniting positions. At one point we said we could act as a bridge and were told that wasn't necessary. We have shown ourselves available to collaborate,” he emphasized.
Regarding the difficulties that CRUCH has faced, Rector Juan Manuel Zolezzi highlighted the difficulty at certain times in knowing how to manage conflict, "we have had difficulty in managing conflicts and that sometimes makes us not as spontaneous as we would like to be.".