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In the first plenary session with the new authorities of the Ministry of Education, the Council reiterated its willingness to fulfill its advisory role to the Ministry on public policies in higher education, which was appreciated by the authorities.
The president of SOFOFA, Rosario Navarro, participated in the session and invited the CRUCH universities to work together to promote collaboration between academia and industry.
With the participation of the Minister of Education, María Paz Arzola; the Undersecretary of Higher Education, Fernanda Valdés; and the Head of the Division of Universities, Alejandro Fernández, the plenary session of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) was held this Thursday, March 26, at the University of Concepción.
“This morning we held a meeting with the Council of Rectors. It was a very valuable meeting; we listened to them and exchanged our views on priorities in higher education,” commented Minister Arzola, who presented a work agenda for 2026-2030 on higher education to the plenary.
The executive vice president of CRUCH and rector of the University of Tarapacá, Emilio Rodríguez, praised the “significant degree of agreement regarding the diagnosis of certain issues,” highlighting the importance of educating individuals and ensuring the financial sustainability of the system. He also warned against excessive regulation, which currently limits the competitiveness of universities, especially state institutions. “The most important thing is that we have established a framework for continuing to work together in the future,” he emphasized.
Similarly, Carlos Saavedra, the alternate executive vice president of CRUCH and rector of the University of Concepción, agreed on the importance of the issues outlined in the ministerial agenda and emphasized the Council's historical role as an advisory body to the Ministry of Education on public policies in higher education.
“We will continue to fulfill that role, so that we can propose an agenda agreed upon with the Ministry (…), particularly regarding the impacts of regulation, financing mechanisms, and of course, the modernization of curricula. I think we agree on these areas, and also on how regulation has impacted the work of institutions,” Rector Saavedra stated.
Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of Higher Education, Fernanda Valdés, emphasized that “for us it was very important to open communication channels, because CRUCH is an advisory body to the Ministry, and to the Undersecretariat in particular, for the development of policies. The good news is that we agree on the diagnosis of Higher Education and, therefore, we agreed to continue working on that agenda, on very concrete actions to improve our system, revitalize it, and resolve issues step by step.”.
The main pillars of the Ministry of Education's agenda are three: updating the educational offering towards more flexible pathways; making financing instruments viable, with a focus on the sustainability of the system; and promoting greater articulation and collaboration, fostering alliances between institutions and the shared use of capacities and resources.
Academia-industry alliance
On the other hand, the session made progress in the articulation between the academic world and industry, following the participation of the president of SOFOFA (Society for Industrial Development), Rosario Navarro, who came to Concepción to invite the CRUCH universities to work together and promote that the training of human capital responds to the productive challenges of the future.
“We know that knowledge management is fundamental for industries to develop. In a turbulent world, a world full of transformations and changes, we must unite the world of academia and the world of industry because together we will be able to deliver solutions, generate new companies, create more jobs, and provide opportunities for all the human capital that our country has,” Rosario Navarro emphasized.
The objective of this collaboration is to establish a long-term strategic alliance that transcends theoretical conversation to generate concrete actions, seeking to anticipate the productive transformations of the next 25 years, identifying capacity gaps and promoting the link between academic research and the real needs of industry.
In this regard, Rector Saavedra indicated that "the CRUCH universities committed to participating, especially because of the importance and relevance of this interaction between the private sector, academia, and the State to generate sustainable productive development.".
Also speaking at the meeting were the president of the Aequalis Foundation, Ignacio Sánchez, highlighting its role as a horizontal space for discussion in higher education; and the Executive Director of the Inter-University Center for Development (CINDA), Álvaro Rojas,
who presented the work of his Chilean Universities Operational Group (GOP-CINDA) on professional and industry-linked doctorates.
Finally, the rector of the host university, Carlos Saavedra, gave a presentation on the innovation ecosystem of the UdeC, highlighting its contributions to the development and sustainable growth of the Biobío Region and the country.
Text and photos: CRUCH Communications
Cover photo: UdeC Communications
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