News
In the second session in which the Senate Education and Culture Commission analyzed the situation of the Universities in the context of the pandemic, the Mineduc Undersecretary of Higher Education rejected the proposals presented by the CRUCH in the previous session on May 25.
The executive vice president of the Council of Rectors and Rector of the University of Santiago, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, emphasized that “there is a greater complexity to understand, and while it is true that the ministry is probably making the greatest effort, I think there is no fundamental understanding of the problem, which is going to be worse in a few more months.”.
This Monday, June 1st, the Senate's Education and Culture Committee continued its analysis of the situation affecting higher education institutions due to Covid-19, which began in the session on Monday, May 25th. In the first session, the executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), Rector Juan Manuel Zolezzi, spoke about the academic and financial impacts on CRUCH universities and proposed six measures to address this complex crisis.
It should be remembered that the CRUCH proposed the following measures: make effective use of the surplus resources of the University Credit Solidarity Fund; create an emergency fund for higher education institutions, through a low-cost line of credit or with a state guarantee or a special fund to support CRUCH universities; carry out a new application process for student aid; repeal article 108 of Law 21.091 on loss of gratuity; condone the reimbursement of scholarship resources; and, lastly, making the use of resources associated with projects already approved by Mineduc more flexible to adapt to current requirements.
During this session, the Undersecretary of Higher Education, Juan Eduardo Vargas, presented the Ministry of Education's position and rejected the proposals from the Council of Rectors. Regarding the increased flexibility of funding, he stated that this "would imply changing the agreements already signed, which were the very agreements that enabled the awarding of certain grants." With respect to student benefits, he indicated that "not including the year 2020 in the nominal duration of the degree programs for students receiving tuition-free education would have an approximate cost of US$1.4 billion" and that "a new FUAS application process has a projected cost of US$132 million.".
Regarding institutional debt, the authority said that “the possibility for medium and small higher education institutions to access “FOGAPE” funds (Guarantee Fund for Small Businesses) is already underway and additionally that “it is expected that those announced for larger entities can also be used by those larger Higher Education Institutions that do not qualify to be beneficiaries of FOGAPE.”.
Finally, Undersecretary Vargas addressed the use of surplus funds from the University Credit Solidarity Fund and stated that "the legal analysis of the Ministry of Education in this regard is clear: the use of surplus funds can only be made with respect to those generated in 2019, and this is reflected in the regulations, which are currently under review by the Comptroller General of the Republic.".
In addition, he pointed out that the CRUCH universities could have access to the surpluses of the year 2019 “but to the extent that they can also deliver the remaining part of those surpluses to a common solidarity fund, and that this fund is available to all educational institutions. higher than required, through soft loans granted under favorable conditions ”. He argued the above, stating that “the solidarity funds have been built on the basis of the contributions that have been made mainly, only by the State, the Mineduc. The universities have managed funds but they have been supplemented year after year by the Ministry of Education. Higher education institutions have made a contribution because they have administered these funds, but ultimately there is an origin in those funds that are from the State ”.
Reactions of the rectors
The executive vice president of the Council of Rectors and Rector of the University of Santiago, Juan Manuel Zolezzi, emphasized that “there is a greater complexity to understand, and while it is true that the ministry is probably making the greatest effort, I think there is no fundamental understanding of the problem, which is going to be worse in a few more months; how do we establish something that helps together? I am strongly concerned about the principle behind this.”.
For his part, the president of the Consortium of State Universities (CUECH) and rector of the University of Chile, Ennio Vivaldi, stated that “there has been no argument presented here. What has simply been said are debatable figures, but I wanted to address the issue from a more conceptual perspective. At this time, universities have set an example that the country must unite in the face of this tremendous threat.” Vivaldi was emphatic in pointing out that “there is no recognition of the work of traditional universities,” and affirmed that “using this context to allocate funds belonging to these universities to finance the rest of the institutions in the system seems truly outrageous to me.”.
Meanwhile, Diego Durán, president of the G-9 Network and rector of the Catholic University of Maule, stated that “it is strange that today there is a possibility of making that 30% more flexible, and not for the situation that was discussed. It is very difficult to say that these meager resources should be used for other institutions; the deficit is enormous.”.
In turn, Patricio Sanhueza, president of the Association of Regional Universities (AUR) and rector of the University of Playa Ancha, stated that the Ministry of Education's proposal "is very disappointing. At the last AUR meeting, we presented the contributions that regional universities have made in response to Covid-19, without requesting resources from the State, demonstrating our solidarity with our regions and our inhabitants, many of whom are extremely vulnerable. The internal social pressure is immense; some students have dropped out because their parents have lost their jobs. We must acknowledge this reality that affects Chile. I believe it will face tremendous opposition from university communities. We need to address broader issues, such as the funding model for higher education. The State's role is to support public education; the concept of 'public' is sometimes overextended, but it must be properly defined.".
Spanish 
English