Aldo Valle: "We are confident that today we are going to hear great news"

30/09/2015
  • Start
  • News
  • Aldo Valle: "We are confident that today we are going to hear great news"
Share

The rector of the University of Valparaíso and executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities stated that "today we know if we have moved from discourse, from promise, to the materialization of a political will," regarding the announcement of the 2016 Budget Bill.

There is great anticipation surrounding President Michelle Bachelet's announcement tonight of the 2016 Budget Bill. One of the most eagerly awaited topics is the budget for higher education. In this regard, Aldo Valle, rector of the University of Valparaíso and executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), stated that it is "a very important milestone," because "we will finally learn what resources the State will commit to expanding opportunities for higher education, and of course for all the universities in the Council of Rectors, which represent the public offering of higher education in the country, the university system that the State and public policy must support, in my opinion, without reservation.".

During the UV Expo, where the University of Valparaíso announced its academic offerings for 2016, Valle stated, “We are confident that today we will hear great news: we are taking a leap forward in public policy, the most concrete step governments must take, which is to effectively commit public resources. Today we know if we are moving beyond rhetoric, beyond promises, to the materialization of political will, not only from the government, but also from the political coalition that sustains and supports this government.”.

The rector added: “Our expectation is that we are taking a great leap forward today. And if this were not the case, we would truly be facing a very uncomfortable situation for everyone, because the social and political legitimacy of a reform necessary for the country would be at risk: that higher education truly becomes an instrument, a substantive platform for economic and social development, may or may not receive a substantive response today. And our expectation is that this response will be positive.”.

Therefore, he added, “we will be attentive, and tomorrow, most certainly, we will be able to talk again about what that response was, at least in broad terms, because we won't have the specific figures today. We already have a meeting scheduled for Monday with the Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education, precisely to break down the information and obtain the overall figures that will be included in the Ministry of Education's budget.”.

Source: Press Office, University of Valparaíso.