The executive vice president of CRUCH, Aldo Valle, explained that the study houses are working internally to reschedule the closing of the second semester of the 2019 academic year.

Regarding the admission process, Rector Valle confirmed that the PSUs will take the exam on January 6 and 7, 2020 and reiterated that the change in date seeks to “give the greatest guarantee so that the applicants can take this test in a climate of greater certainty and confidence.”

“All of our universities are in a situation of rescheduling academic calendars,” explained the executive vice president of the Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), Aldo Valle, regarding the current situation of the 29 institutions that make up the group.

This topic was addressed in session No. 609 of the Council of Rectors, which was held at the Vitacura Campus of the Federico Santa María Technical University, in Santiago. On the occasion, Rector Valle explained that “most universities do not have undergraduate teaching,” so the universities are rescheduling the closing of the second semester of the 2019 academic year.

“To the extent that the enrollment programs for first year will be carried out in the first half of March, it will allow the enrollment of former students to also be deferred. Consequently, there is a margin in March to close the teaching or evaluation processes of the second semester,” said Valle.

Along the same lines, the CRUCH authority indicated that “what is in operation in the case of training in the area of ​​Health, which is carried out on clinical campuses, because there are obligations regarding health services. Also postgraduate programs, which are sometimes partially altered by unforeseen situations such as transportation or the conditions to access university campuses.”

Admission Process Calendar 2020

In the November session, the Council ratified the new dates for the University Selection Tests (PSU), which will occur on January 6 and 7, 2020, as announced on November 14.

In this regard, Rector Valle reiterated the criteria considered by the CRUCH, the Ministry of Education and the Department of Evaluation, Measurement and Educational Registration (DEMRE) of the University of Chile to postpone the taking of the tests.

“We have always expressed that we want to give the greatest guarantee so that applicants can take their PSUs in a climate of greater certainty and confidence,” said the executive vice president of CRUCH. Valle explained that “the entire logistics operation has already been accomplished, consolidated, so there will be no change regarding the PSU surrender days, which has coverage of more than 650 surrender locations and there are thousands of students. "They are going to take the test, because they are already registered and are preparing."

The rector of the University of Valparaíso added that the CRUCH, through the Single Admission System (SUA), together with MINEDUC and DEMRE, are evaluating the date of delivery of the PSU scores and the application stage to the 41 institutions participating in the SUA. “We are talking about adjusting the delivery of results with institutional processes, to meet the needs that universities have with their academic calendars, to reconcile their functioning and the security and confidence with which we must deliver the results.”

In this scenario, the authority of the Council of Rectors maintained that the registration process for the 2020 academic year will take place during the first half of March.

Position on the use of pellets

In another area, Rector Valle was consulted about the use of pellets by Carabineros during public demonstrations. In this context, he stated that the Council of Rectors has publicly demanded that the authorities cease the use of these elements and that several university authorities have filed protection appeals in the country's appeals courts, with the same objective.

The executive vice president of CRUCH stated that “what corresponds, in our opinion, is for the competent authority to adopt measures to ensure compliance, in a legal and reliable manner, with police protocols; but that prohibitions are also established regarding the use of these pellets in particular, because they have not been effective in controlling public order and because with respect to peaceful protest, the role of the police is to contain and deter and in no case to attack or punish those who dissent or protest, also making use of a right recognized in the Constitution.”

The November session of the Council of Rectors had the participation of the Minister of Justice and Human Rights, Hernán Larraín, who spoke before the plenary session about the +R Project: Greater Reintegration, Greater Security, through which it seeks to encourage social reintegration of people who have been deprived of liberty. In this sense, CRUCH and this portfolio will develop an agreement to carry out initiatives in this area, linked to higher education.

Also present was the Undersecretary of Higher Education, Juan Eduardo Vargas, who referred to the application process for MINEDUC Student Benefits and agreements reached in the 2020 Budget bill related to higher education. At the meeting, the president of the Council of Deans of the Faculties of Education of the National Council of Rectors (CONFAUCE), the dean of Education of the Catholic University of Chile, Lorena Medina, also spoke, who analyzed aspects related to training in Pedagogy.

Source: CRUCH