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During the monthly session of the Council of Rectors held in Talca, at the Catholic University of Maule, the new head of the Higher Education Division, Alejandra Contreras, participated.
Just days before the presentation of the Higher Education Bill, the Executive Vice President of the Council of Rectors, Aldo Valle, stated that they have not yet had access to its contents, but based on what has been disseminated, “we share a common criticism within the CRUCH, which is that there is no strengthening of institutions that are still receiving base funding, which does not allow them to guarantee their future development in a scenario that, moreover, promises the continuation of the financing of a higher education market by the Chilean State.”.
During the monthly CRUCH meeting held yesterday, Thursday, at the Catholic University of Maule in Talca, Rector Valle stated that “we believe tools should be introduced to strengthen regional universities and those universities that, while not located in the regions, receive very little public funding. This would be an effective way to strengthen public education, consistent with the government program's stated objective of strengthening public education.”.
The executive vice president of CRUCH emphasized that “this is not happening, and state and private universities still do not have the opportunity under this project to develop in accordance with the country's needs in higher education. Universities must achieve higher quality standards, develop research, and develop postgraduate programs under the best conditions. The public system cannot be forced to compete with a market-driven higher education system; this is our main criticism of what we know about the higher education reform project.”.
Regarding tuition fees and the necessary regulation in a scenario of free education and ample public funding, Rector Valle stated that “there must be regulation that establishes a balance between the various educational needs and the costs associated with those needs, but without allowing a system of unfettered pricing. We want the reform to be explicit on this point as well, particularly if the State is going to continue transferring public funds to private institutions. We maintain that these institutions cannot be free to set tuition fees.”.
New head of Divesup
The CRUCH session included the participation of the new head of the Higher Education Division (DIVESUP) of the Ministry of Education, Alejandra Contreras, who gave a presentation to the university rectors on tuition-free education and the public funding system. In this regard, Aldo Valle stated that, while they had received relevant and necessary information, the Council of Rectors is concerned about the transfer of funds and the implementation of tuition-free education. “We still lack the certainty that we, the rectors and our institutions, require regarding tuition-free transfers for the second semester,” warned Aldo Valle, adding that to address the institutions' funding needs, the head of DIVESUP committed to holding a meeting with the Council of Rectors within the next 15 days. “She has shown the utmost willingness to resolve these difficulties as soon as possible,” he stated.
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