The Council of Rectors presented on the Grade Ranking to the Education Committee of the House of Representatives.

13/08/2012
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  • The Council of Rectors presented on the Grade Ranking to the Education Committee of the House of Representatives.
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The executive vice president of CRUCH, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, positively assessed the reception of the new instrument by the parliamentarians and assured that "we are on the right path, aimed towards equity.".

A special session of the Chamber of Deputies was held in the former National Congress building in Santiago, where the executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), Juan Manuel Zolezzi, was invited to speak about the inclusion of the Grade Ranking as an additional requirement for the 2013 University Admission and Selection Process. On this occasion, the Education Committee was able to ask questions and discuss the new admission mechanism.

Regarding the impact of the Ranking, the session discussed that while expectations for this year are low because the change for 2013 will be limited, the future expectation with the revisions that will be made is that retention rates will improve and universities will increase their percentages of on-time graduation, with motivated and hardworking students who are within the top 10% of their generation.

“I leave very happy. I believe we have been able to address all the concerns raised by the members of parliament. Furthermore, we have heard expressions from everyone, without exception, that the system is beneficial and that, while it is not a fundamental change, it is worthwhile and benefits the admissions system. We are on the right track, moving towards equity. I leave satisfied because the inclusion of the ranking has the support of the majority of our members of the distinguished Education Committee,” Zolezzi stated.

Parliamentarians from both the opposition and the government expressed their support for the ranking, although they raised concerns – already known through the press – such as that it is not strictly a ranking, but rather a bonus, or that the announcement of its implementation was made too late for students participating in this year's Admission Process.

The CRUCH, represented by its vice president and accompanied by the Academic Vice-Rector of the Pontifical Catholic University, Roberto González; the academic from the University of Santiago, Francisco Javier Gil; Eduardo Rodríguez, director of the Department of Educational Evaluation, Measurement and Registration (DEMRE) of the University of Chile, and Jorge Manzi, academic from the Pontifical Catholic University and member of the CTA, highlighted positive features of this new tool incorporated into admissions, such as predictive validity and the contribution to inclusion that, although marginal, recognizes the academic talent of a student without distinguishing where they were born or where they studied.

At the end of the meeting, the executive vice president of CRUCH explained to the press that a commission with the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has not yet been established to clarify all the Ministry's concerns regarding the ranking, and indicated that he is waiting for it to materialize. "We haven't yet sat down to discuss, for example, why one methodology and not another," he pointed out.