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The executive vice president of CRUCH, Emilio Rodríguez, pointed out that although “the initial amount is small, it sets a precedent for the future, regarding the willingness of the State of Chile to move forward in the right direction.».
On the other hand, to promote the training of teachers in CRUCH universities, in the plenary session of this Thursday, July 25, it was agreed to organize a seminar on good pedagogical practices and management of educational establishments in different territories of the country.
“This structural fund creates a long-term perspective for financing science, technology, knowledge, and innovation. While the initial amount is certainly small, it sets a precedent for the future, demonstrating the Chilean State's commitment to moving in the right direction,» stated Emilio Rodríguez, Executive Vice President of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), during the virtual session held on Thursday, July 25.
The Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation (CTCI), Aisén Etcheverry, participated in the session and announced that the regulations for the Structural Financing Fund for R&D&I for Universities (FIU) have already been signed by the President of the Republic and are at the Comptroller General of the Republic for review.
The university presidents praised the ministry's efforts in bringing the project to fruition, which is included in the 2024 Budget Law with an initial amount of two billion pesos.
The fund will have two stages, one of diagnosis and another of execution, and will be granted in two modalities: a regional one (FIU Regional) and a border one (FIU Border).
The Regional University Fund (FIU Regional), which aims to strengthen the contribution of regional universities to territorial development, is open to universities accredited for between 3 and 5 years. Meanwhile, the Border University Fund (FIU Frontera), which aims to enhance the contribution of universities with institutional accreditation of excellence to national development, is open to universities with 6 and 7 years of accreditation.
The minister indicated that "we hope that the institutions applying for the regional fund can reach the border fund, where we want to address the country's strategic challenges for the future.".
Commitment to teacher training
Teacher training, access to pedagogy degrees, and the shortage of teachers in the country's school system have been the focus of analysis for the rectors of CRUCH in recent times.
Therefore, in March of this year, the CRUCH published the report “Teaching Changes Lives”, Last month, the criteria for enabling pedagogy careers for the 2025 Admission Process were addressed - in the lead-up to the entry into force of Law 20.903 that creates the Teacher Professional Development System and modifies other regulations - and in the plenary session this Thursday, two innovative school experiences were presented that can provide guidelines for teacher training.
Paula Miranda, director of the Río Blanco School in the Aysén del General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo region, and Víctor Reyes, director of the San Nicolás High School in the Ñuble region, shared their respective educational projects, which have positioned them as national benchmarks thanks to the successful results of their students.
In this context, the plenary agreed to hold a seminar in the coming months on good pedagogical and management practices in educational establishments from different territories of the country, in order to generate an opportunity for reflection that allows the identification of skills and competencies that can be incorporated into the training of future teachers.
It is worth noting that of all the pedagogy programs in the country's higher education system, the 75% is taught by 27 of the 30 CRUCH universities.
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