News
The rectors Osvaldo Corrales (UV), Rodrigo Alda (UCN) and Cristhian Mellado (UCSC) stated that they hope the agreement will allow for the exchange of experiences related to indigenous peoples and promote mobility between students and researchers from both countries.
For his part, New Zealand's Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, said that having the opportunity to "identify areas where we can collaborate in the future makes it clear that there are many opportunities for us.".
With the presence of the New Zealand Minister of Education, Chris Hipkins, the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH) and Education New Zealand signed an educational cooperation agreement.
The agreement was signed at the New Zealand Embassy, where a working meeting took place between Minister Hipkins, the New Zealand Ambassador to Chile, Linda Te Puni, and a delegation from CRUCH, headed by the rectors of the University of Valparaíso, Osvaldo Corrales (in charge of the Council's Internationalization Commission); the Catholic University of the North, Rodrigo Alda (in charge of the Postgraduate Commission) and the Catholic University of the Holy Conception, Cristhian Mellado.
On behalf of CRUCH, Rector Corrales stated that the Council "has the challenge of deepening the internationalization process of our universities" and highlighted that "we have identified several points of collaboration" that both countries can explore.
For his part, Minister Hipkins valued the meeting with the CRUCH representatives. “There is so much in common between New Zealand and Chile. Having the opportunity to discuss some of these issues in greater depth and identify areas where we can collaborate in the future makes it clear that there are many opportunities for us,” the minister stated.
Also participating in this meeting were the Secretary General (S) of CRUCH, Marcela Cifuentes; the Vice-Rector of Research, Development and Innovation of the University of Santiago, María José Galotto; the President of the CRUCH Postgraduate Commission, the Director of the Graduate School of the Pontifical Catholic University, Diego Cosmelli; and the President of the Internationalization Commission, the Director of Institutional Relations and Outreach of the Catholic University of the Holy Conception, Steve Baeza, who gave a presentation on the Council of Rectors and the context of higher education in Chile.
Also present on behalf of New Zealand were Grant McPherson, Chief Executive of Education New Zealand (Signatory for the ECA); Lisa Futschek, General Manager International, Education New Zealand; Amy Rutherford, Regional Director Americas, Europe and Middle East, Education New Zealand; Javiera Visedo, Director of Engagement Latin America, Education New Zealand; and Freddy Ernst, Senior Policy International, Ministry of Education.
Indigenous peoples
During the working meeting, which lasted for about an hour, the representatives of Chile and New Zealand explored various areas that could be considered in the collaboration agreement.
Rector Corrales highlighted that “one of the topics that emerged with the greatest interest and force is the mutual learning we can have regarding the integration of indigenous peoples, the possibilities for exchange we have in that area and the possibility of discussing the experiences that both New Zealand and Chile have had in terms of preserving indigenous languages, for example.”.
Rector Alda stated that “we have a tremendous challenge in this area, and our ties with New Zealand can be very useful. In my case, I have a meeting with the Council of Atacameño Peoples next week, and I believe that telling them about this meeting and that we have the opportunity to learn about other experiences can be a tremendous help in moving forward with more fruitful work.”.
For his part, Rector Mellado maintained that "joint work can be strengthened through exchange with indigenous peoples, because there are several universities that are working along those lines.".
Undergraduate and postgraduate exchange
Likewise, the UCSC authority stated that he hopes the links with the Oceanic country “will favor the development of regional universities, because there are different experiences that institutions outside the capital can contribute to the relationship with New Zealand.”.
The rector of UCN also expressed his interest in promoting student exchange between both institutions, since "without a doubt, both New Zealand and Chilean students could contribute tremendously to higher education, both undergraduate and postgraduate.".
Along the same lines, the rector of the UV stated that “there has been a lot of interest in the possibility of having exchanges at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels with students and identifying tools that allow us to overcome the barriers they face when traveling to other countries.”.
The meeting also addressed the option of promoting exchange between researchers and the challenges that both Chile and New Zealand have faced in safeguarding lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, it was highlighted the participation of undergraduate students from 20 CRUCH universities in the New Zealand Global Competence Certificate program during 2021. The initiative, aimed at training citizens with global skills, was made possible thanks to an alliance between Education New Zealand at the New Zealand Embassy in Chile and the Internationalization Commission of the Council of Rectors.
Spanish 
English