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The CRUCH insisted that it is necessary to open a new discussion on the curricular bases approved by the CNED. "We believe that a bad decision has been made and that a serious threat to the educational system is underway," said the executive vice president of the Council of Rectors, Aldo Valle.
Regarding Gratuity, the rectors reiterated that it is necessary to correct the design of this policy, so that it covers beyond the formal duration of the careers.
The change in the Curricular Bases for III and IV Middle and the problems of design of the Gratuity policy marked the session N ° 607 of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), which on this occasion was held in dependencies of the U. de Atacama, in Copiapó.
On this occasion, the CRUCH plenary reviewed the report prepared by a special commission that analyzed the curriculum proposal approved by the National Education Council (CNED) and which the Ministry of Education intends to implement starting in 2020. The executive vice president of the Council of Rectors, Aldo Valle, stated that it is necessary for the Ministry of Education to postpone the entry into force of the curriculum guidelines, opening space for a broader discussion and ensuring that those who have to implement the new curriculum can prepare for it.
“We disagree with making History, Physical Education, and Arts optional subjects in the third and fourth years of high school. We also disagree with reducing the core curriculum from 19 to 14 hours. We believe this threatens the strength of the educational process within the school system,” stated Rector Valle, who affirmed that the CRUCH (Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities) will formally communicate this position to the Ministry of Education, which will also suggest increasing the core curriculum to 18 hours.
Rector Valle added that “we want to send a message to our university communities, the school system, and the professors of Chile. We believe that a bad decision has been made, that the fundamentals are insufficient, and that ultimately, a serious threat to the Chilean educational system is underway ”.
The report reviewed by the CRUCH plenary session was prepared by a commission agreed upon in the June session and which was made up of the rectors Jaime Espinosa, from the Metropolitan University of Education Sciences; Eduardo Silva, from the Alberto Hurtado University and Diego Durán, from the Maule Catholic University; together with the president of the Council of Deans of the Faculties of Education of the National Council of Rectors (CONFAUCE) and dean of Education of the Pontifical Catholic University, Lorena Medina.
In this regard, Dean Medina assured that "we fully agree with the underlying idea of this curriculum and that it has a flexible structure for third and fourth half, which means that finally the Scientific-Humanist, Technical-Professional and Artistic have a common plan, which allows more equity when accessing higher education ”.
Medina added that "we would like to be able to discuss again what we want for the common plan and for the differentiated plan."
Free coverage extension
Another topic addressed in the Council of Rectors session was the problems in the design of Free Tuition.
In this regard, Rector Valle reiterated that it is necessary for the coverage of this benefit to be extended by 20% more than the formal duration of the careers, considering that this extension is in line with the reality of OECD countries, in which -on average- students finish the programs exceeding the formal duration by that time range.
“What Law No. 21,091 is doing today is asking us to advance the effective duration of careers to the averages shown by the OECD countries. There is a defective design in the Gratuity policy, because it requires that students conclude their careers in the formal period of time, as if they all arrived in higher education under the same conditions and the truth is that Chile has one of the systems more segregated and segregating educational institutions, ”explained Valle.
The rector added that “it is students from the first six deciles who suffer the most from the consequences of this asymmetry in the quality standards of the school system. In that sense, it seems to us that the best thing is to consider an additional and limited time 20%, with respect to these students ”.
PSUM analysis
The session also reviewed an analysis of the Mathematics University Selection Test (PSUM), prepared by the Single Admission System (SUA) of the CRUCH.
Aldo Valle explained that this document will be made available to the SUA Committee of Experts, the Department of Educational Evaluation, Measurement and Registration (DEMRE) of the University of Chile and the new Access System, which is administered by the Undersecretariat of Education Superior of MINEDUC.
“We want to contribute to providing more information so that, ultimately, when the university access system is fully operational, it can make proposals based on the strongest foundations and the most comprehensive information. That is our task now that Law No. 21,091, which establishes a new institutional framework for the Admissions System, is in effect,” the CRUCH official stated.
The president of the National Accreditation Commission (CNA), Hernán Burdiles, also participated in this meeting.
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