Neoliberal educational quality: MINEDU, SUNEDU and the absence of research (II) – Rebelion

2022-07-14 10:03:52 By : Ms. PU XIONG

All the professional titles generated in the first two industrial revolutions seem to have fallen into disuse and programmed obsolescence.This occurs due to the ignorance of the school systems in general and the universities in particular of the changes that occur in the world.The titles are obtained with theses and these are mostly partial or total copies, which as we have seen before, cannot be otherwise, and even when being a professional (or teacher or doctor) has lost meaning, they serve for the farce of good job, mainly public.The more graduates you have, the higher the enrollment and the better the negotiated.Let's see how in number of thesis students the first four private ones (mostly new) triple the 4 public ones with more much older thesis students.The César Vallejo University founded by César Acuña – with a process in Miami for money laundering – is at the top of this list, with 83,152 theses.It is followed by the Universidad Privada del Norte 11,406 theses, then the Universidad Católica los Ángeles de Chimbote 10,765, the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas 9,147, Universidad Señor de Sipán 9,192.A total of only 5 universities out of 123,662 of dubious origin and approval.We do not include the 18,576 theses of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP), because research is promoted and carried out there.Among the public ones are the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, with 17,406, the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo (9,677), Universidad Nacional del Altiplano (9,490) and Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería (9,022). A total of 45,595 and if we add those of the PUC we have 64,171 The former almost double the latter with much greater antiquity This does not mean that among all the theses of the second group there are no plagiarisms, but rather that possibly those who have done so have constructed them more carefully.The journalistic article highlights that the topics are in education, learning, teaching perception and effectiveness, strategic planning, quantitative research, nursing (attitudes and care), teaching perception and effectiveness.[1]Topics that lend themselves to the use of subjectivity and the invention of data, including quantitative ones.In this scenario, the giant corporations have been training their own professionals, generating their own education.The case of General Motors is paradigmatic: In the sixties, it created one of the first corporate universities in the world in the United States, betting on a homogeneous and differential training of its workers.It was followed by Mac Donalds, Disney, Motorola, Coca Cola or Home Depot.etc.and they were growing in the western world: USA, Great Britain, etc.In Spain, 40 years later, Gas Natural Fenosa, Santander, Repsol, Acciona, NH Hotel, Indra, Everis, BBVA and others.The large corporations of the industries of the fourth industrial revolution are expanding.Google, taking advantage of the educational disaster caused by the pandemic, has already penetrated, through its google classroom, part of the world and will be able to build its own teaching system adapted to its interests.The public debate around education and its objectives is subsumed by the immediacy and acceleration generated by the application of these programs, forcing continuous provisionality;turning the company into the essential center.However, after years of massive introduction of the digital in the classroom, there is no evidence of cognitive improvements in students, but on the contrary, even the controversial man of the OECD-PISA Andreas Schleicher recognizes it.[2]It has been installed in the imaginary that the bad private universities constitute the central problem and that closing them will end the mediocrity of our education.This is a biased view of education.Nor is the problem just legal, despite the fact that the new law has theoretical, technical, and practical inconsistencies and is highly undemocratic and does not intend to change education.We are facing the emergence of virtual universities, with only facades or with precarious facilities, without teachers, only coaches, psychologists or pedagogues and auxiliary staff.Universities dependent on large transnationals whose objective is to locate and co-opt talent to take them to their knowledge centers.It should be noted, however, according to the British consulting firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), which evaluates research, the quality of teaching, its reputation with employers (not just companies) and internationalization, in Latin America there are massive public universities and free schools that are consolidated as the best educational institutions: the case of UBA, Palermo, Austral, UNAM, Sao Paulo, Campinhas, etc.although still very far from the universities of the center of capitalism.SUNEDU, as we will see, does not take these factors into account; rather, it is part of the authoritarian political system and the market, which has placed the Ministry of Education as the governing body for educational quality, excluding scientific and technological production, quality of teaching or limiting the reputation to trust, postponing the educational community and in particular the university and society as a whole.As a tool of power are the evaluation and control in the administrative, budgetary and government.[3]Apart from being a technocratic entity, it imposes the neoliberal project and obeys private and even partisan interests.SUNEDU is not made up of the subjects of education and even the appointment of the superintendent of SUNEDU is made by the Ministry of Education.On November 12, 1991, Legislative Decree 726 was approved, allowing military intervention in universities.Another discriminatory attack was deciding which students can participate as representatives in the various governing bodies of the university.To do this, they must be students from the same university, belong to the top third of academic performance (...).Universities are panoptic (Foucault) of surveillance, control and passivity where they train future workers and who cannot transgress obedience in the face of the threat of jail (Olympus operation and many more cases), criminalization and jail with a case prefabricated by Dircote and others cops.The debate on quality and the scope of university autonomy was limited to incorporating the business community or its objectives and needs or its categories of analysis (skills, excellence, quality) as part of the conduct of higher education;submitting the university to the Government, establishing questionable rules for the treatment of applicants and students, and creating a National Evaluation System.Self-government, academic freedom, the election of authorities are limited by financing through canon and mining royalties.Although, it must be said, but they are self-limitations defined and imposed by the community of authorities, teachers and students who are not aware of the potential of this level of studies.University autonomy has come to encompass various fields: politics, regulations, government, academic, administrative.This principle has been violated by the State itself through not only SUNEDU but also by the intervention of companies, the Executive Branch, Congress and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.They can decide on the universities and careers that they want to create, they must create in accordance with neoliberalism.The university has ceased to be a space of creation and freedom, to integrate epistemologies, to try to investigate the knowledge needs of the country from the forever forgotten, becoming harmless little schools.As long as there is no democratic research and creation, there will be no need for autonomy.The autonomy reaches the imposition of the positivist design in the definition of what a research work is.In University Law, it is not clear who will be in charge of establishing the research guidelines or reviewing the research papers.In accordance with Art.45.1.the Bachelor's degree: requires having passed the undergraduate studies, as well as the approval of a research project (...) Art.45.2.Professional Title: requires a Bachelor's degree and the approval of a thesis or work of professional proficiency.Accredited universities can establish additional modalities to the latter.The regulations of the National Superintendence of Higher University Education (SUNEDU), serve to verify compliance with the Basic Quality Conditions, required by the University Law, referring to * academic objectives.* Economic and financial forecast of the university.* Adequate infrastructure and equipment.* Research lines to be developed.* Staff availability.* Basic complementary educational services.* Existence of mediation and employment mechanisms.* Transparency of universities.[4]As can be seen, these criteria avoid entering the philosophical or scientific level of the debate on academic quality, conditioned by the objectives linked to the country project, since it is considered an ideological debate, which determines the academic objectives, the teaching quality, the training of researchers, investment.On the contrary, there is a strong pragmatic inclination, perhaps considering that its purposes are understood as part of the neoliberal project defined in the Constitution.It allows us to think, with the new education theorists of this trend, that quality refers to students being able to develop relevant skills to function in the so-called knowledge society.and to renew those that allow individuals and groups to act in a “productive manner”.International organizations are committed to the need to develop 21st century skills: learn to think creatively, work collaboratively, learn to use tools of various kinds (especially technological and communication);all of which would allow people to access information and continue learning throughout life, to perform socially in a responsible manner, demonstrating high levels of assertiveness.In this way, the purpose of quality education will be to ensure that students receive an education that contributes to their incorporation into the labor market, the development of knowledge and contribution to society.Although creativity, collaboration, development of knowledge and contribution to society can be highlighted in this narrative, which are positive elements, the central and real objective is to train in the sole use of information and technology to join the changing world of work.The licensing process is an administrative procedure through technologies and electronic means.The verification of Conditions is carried out in a comprehensive manner and includes documentary review and face-to-face verification activities, which can be carried out in parallel.Universities must comply with six Basic Quality Conditions to be licensed: Educational model, constitution, government and management of the university, the proposed educational offer is consistent with their study plans and with the resources of the university, in addition to being sustainable , research proposal, university social responsibility and university welfare and transparency.The evaluation as we see only requires these conditions, but does not consider that there are proven researchers and therefore neither that there is research.Finally, it remains in the support of physical infrastructure, technological resources;teaching and non-teaching.The competencies, in this trend, refer to the quality of education understood to consolidate a culture of quality in the university in the administrative processes, based on the institutional educational project, the principles of comprehensive and relevant professional training and the criteria of effectiveness and efficiency, in interdependence.Generate mechanisms to guide the teaching, research and extension processes according to the institutional vision, the scientific-technological challenges and social problems, taking into account criteria of efficacy, efficiency and effectiveness in an articulated manner, without the latter affecting the university functions.It will be sought that the members of the institution continuously apply continuous improvement in everything they do, reviewing processes, evaluating with indicators and promptly introducing improvements.Generate processes for obtaining accurate information about administrative processes, as well as university services and products, in such a way that this contributes to decision-making.It also intends that the various processes are accredited by national and international organizations.This implies seeking the accreditation of the university as a whole, the quality certification of administrative processes, the accreditation of each undergraduate and postgraduate program, the accreditation of teachers and researchers, and the accreditation of students.Provide a national and international guarantee of the quality of administrative processes, teaching, research and extension.In a university that enjoys a license such as the CesarVallejo University, according to a study by Ojo Público, 18,000 students graduated in 12 years, with advisors who have directed hundreds of theses with 40 different topics.They state that, of 15,077 theses from nine Education postgraduate programs of this institution, 11.7% (more than 1,700 theses) were put together from 16 themes that are repeated systematically.Also"...it was found that more than 1,700 professionals obtained their master's and doctorate degrees related to Education with works in which they maintained the same criteria of analysis of previous theses"[5]. However, SUNEDU did not sanction this university and every year increases the factory production of theses.The history of higher education institutions offers us more clearly what happens with licensing and how academic quality is understood by SUNEDU.The Jose Carlos Mariategui University with 31 years of existence, began its educational service on April 15, 1991 as the Private University of Moquegua by Law No. 25153 of December 23, 1989 with the professional careers: Mining Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Civil Engineering , Environmental Engineering, Fishing Engineering and Agroindustrial Engineering.Recognized as a non-profit legal entity, its orientation was totally opposite.Fujimori, with his neoliberal project, authorized the commodification and privatization of education, and retired professors from public universities believed that it was time for the new educational businesses of their founders, linked to Patria Roja, who had already managed to appropriate the single Union of workers of the education (sutep) that controlled since then the teaching spill.The UJCM is a private university created by professors from the University of San Agustín of AREQUIPA and the Jorge Basadre of TACNA, under the protection of the nascent educational neoliberalism.[6]Although it says not to profit, 24 teachers, presumed owners, earn an average of 7 thousand dollars.It has 10 stores and offices in seven departments. It was denied licensing and was prevented from receiving new entrants, regardless of the recruitment modality.During the licensing process, the university requested the withdrawal of 147 academic programs, representing 87.5% of the offer presented at the beginning of the procedure;in addition to 10 stores located in the provinces of Andahuaylas, Puno, Cusco, Tacna, Lima, Arequipa and San Román.These withdrawals reached a population of 1988 students.By Sunedu resolution of June 2020, the UJCM had to cease its activities within a maximum period of two years, counted from the following academic semester, however the pandemic allowed it to extend this period.The conditions that did not meet were:As we can see, SUNEDU gave them time to resolve their deficiencies and the demands were the minimum.Although there is talk of unrealized research projects and the inability of teachers to do so, if only the axis of the evaluation had been research and the teaching staff trained for it, it was enough to close it, even if that criterion had affected other similar, private or public.Points 2 and 3 stand out. Referring to the almost non-existent research and the academic poverty of the subjects who carry it out.The question is: how is this university different from the National Autonomous University of Moquegua?Almost nothing.The latter began its activities in 2007 and a decade later, in 2017 SUNEDU declared that UNAM provides an educational service that meets the Basic Quality Conditions required by the University Law, counting in that year with 1,300 students distributed in its 6 undergraduate programs (2017).This university has stable doctors and teachers on its staff (despite its dubious origin), a state budget, plus financing from royalties and mining canon, the support of the Region;however, just like the private one, in its 15 years it has not published any research worthy of the name.But in addition, their research lines and projects are mostly a copy of the subject programs.An institution where supply comes from business demand and where first it is taught how to write a "scientific article" that can be published in peer-reviewed journals, but research is not taught.Moreover, it is surprising that UNAM, despite receiving 20% ​​of the regional mining canon and 5% of mining royalties, with the possibility of investigating biodiversity and the ecosystem or the use of renewable energies and production processes, prefers to avoid this unexplained activity, perhaps because of its political implications.In summary, despite the fact that the Peruvian University has not even met its business objective,[8] it is undeniable that SUNEDU has only generated insignificant positive changes in it, the main one being to limit licensing and prevent the proliferation of universities " Azangaro”, which sell titles.That, however, by not demanding a minimum of requirements in terms of concrete, significant and public research (What better indicator of the absence of research than the data on titles, which are 90% merchandise) and by not promoting the reflection within the universities and outside of them, by the collectives of critical thought, on their own capacities and institutional limitations, remained on the edge of the great problems.However, despite having promoted the improvement of teaching and infrastructure in general, only some public and private universities have sufficient and qualified teaching staff for teaching and even more for research;that of strengthening the teaching career remained more than a formality.The allocation of the budget for this purpose, which in mining regions is added to the funds that come from the canon and mining royalties, grew but its use is questionable.If this panorama is repeated in all the regions, the only way out for there to be a degree is plagiarism.Hence, anyone who is investigated will be accused of plagiarism, regardless of the questionable Internet applications that are supposed to detect them.In both cases, public and private universities, the way out will have to be invented and must revolve around another way of thinking about quality based on autonomy and research.And of course, also in teaching, but based on research.We could think of the JCM university being nationalized and reorganized (a valid proposal for all those that should be municipalized or nationalized, if necessary, if they persist in vile profit).Pass into the hands of the regional government or perhaps a municipal government, backed by Sunedu.Be free and offer support to good impoverished students;have a democratic government shared by the three estates, the co-government.A popular university where academic freedom associated with relevant research shared with social movements cannot be postponed in order to contribute to changing the status quo.There are many great changes to establish a joint, multinational society project, with a historical vision, rejecting the perverse intention of the global power to eliminate half of the population.It is the defense of life that ranges from retaking the face-to-face public school, criticizing the established curriculum, the new technological man, to imposing the school and university as research centers, the emphasis on culture, the environment and creating new technologies. emancipatory and decolonizing.To break with the technological and cultural domain, the lines of emancipatory research must guide the curricular formation and profoundly reform the formation of the teaching staff.Guided by a project for an emancipated and self-determined country, it will be possible to fully join the fourth industrial revolution.If China or Russia, or the United States and Germany, are the powers that they are now, it is because of the post-colonial condition that they achieved with great revolutions.Is that the only way out?An ideological declaration will not be enough to mobilize the workers, the poor, the peoples.Staying in the class, in the proletariat, in its autonomy and self-determination is not enough and requires examining the practice.Another radical anti-capitalist position proposes the fight for good living from collectivism and may seem more realistic.Others are committed to communist republicanism, but starting from creating an anti-colonial and anti-capitalist ethos, from below, a new culture from practice and in all spheres of life.We live a policy of colonial plunder and the resistance to this overdetermines the class struggle and in it the working class.In this, the people are against the ecocidal companies and the workers support the company.The same is happening in Las Bambas.Perhaps these and other proposals should be articulated to organize, mobilize the exploited and subjugated peoples, victims of dispossession and abuse, develop awareness and a new culture and not create new fetishes that are born without life?[1] National Superintendence of Higher University EducationRENATI, institutional repository of SUNEDU.Cited by La República, Lima, May 15, 2022. Most of the works registered in this system date from between 2010 and 2019[2] Arturo Sánchez Jiménez, La Jornada Newspaper, December 19, 2020, p.twenty[3] Art.12” (…) SUNEDU is the specialized technical public body attached to the Ministry of Education, with technical, functional, economic, budgetary and administrative autonomy for the exercise of its functions (…)”.-Approve or deny licensing applications from universities, subsidiaries.-Regulate and supervise the basic quality conditions required.The SUNEDU superintendent is the highest executive authority of the entity and holder of the budget specifications.He is appointed by supreme resolution at the proposal of the Ministry of Education (...) The bills for the creation of public universities must have a prior favorable opinion from the Ministry of Economy and Finance for their approval.The basic conditions established by SUNEDU for licensing refer to at least the following aspects:28.1.the existence of academic objectives;degrees and titles to be awarded and corresponding study plans.28.2.economic and financial forecast of the university to be created compatible with the purposes proposed in its planning instruments.28.3.adequate infrastructure and equipment to fulfill its functions (libraries, laboratories, etc.28.4.lines of research to be developed.28.5.Verification of the availability of qualified teaching staff with no less than 25% full-time teachers.28.6.Verification of basic complementary educational services (medical, social, psychopedagogical, sports services, among others)28.7.Existence of mediation and employment mechanisms (employment exchange or others)The process of accreditation of educational quality in the university environment is voluntary (...)We will cite the norm in two points, first for the bachelor's degree and then for the professional title:Art.45.1.Bachelor's degree: requires having passed the undergraduate studies, as well as the approval of a research project (...)[5] Xilena Pinedo, Gianfranco Huaman, https://ojo-publico.com/3514/universidad-cesar-vallejo-mas-de-1700-tesis-son-similares?fbclid=IwAR3W8Y58KULpzvktkdOJTIss3s2L73GnimYEO1BLAFOqQK5GY4g0rJsGpYE, Ojo Público, May 29, 2022[6] We are not aware of any studies on this university, but we can deduce that the Red Homeland Organization, under the pretext of preparing for a fictitious people's war in its 45 years of expansion, appropriated political spaces throughout the country, with the aim of to live very well from them.They reached Congress, the highest echelons of the judiciary, departmental and local governments in different parts of the country.They occupied the public spaces that other organizations left to dedicate themselves to making the revolution.Even the defense fronts of the people's interests were the object of this expansive greed.A more organized network than Fujimorism itself, whose advantage was having state power.Curiously, they were never accused of advocating terrorism, although they always proclaimed the need for people's war.In the department of Moquegua, today they control the regional government, they have a strong influence on the other university that is public, they manage organizations that defend the interests of Moquegua, it could be said that they control civil society in collusion with the large Anglo American mining corporations. and Southern Peru Corporation that control the regional and even national economy.[7] RPP, Sunedu denied the institutional license to the José Carlos Mariátegui University of Moqueguahttps://rpp.pe/peru/actualidad/sunedu-denego-la-licencia-institucional-a-la-universidad-jose-carlos-mariategui-de-moquegua-noticia-1272897We find in Wikipedia “the academic reputation, the employability reputation for graduates, the research citation to its repositories and its impact on the web.Of the total of 92 licensed universities in Peru,3 the National University of Moquegua has regularly been located within the middle third at the national level in certain international university rankings.We do not have data on the degree of employment of its graduates, but we are sure that without research there is no place in scientific repositories, and obviously they cannot be cited.Rebelión has published this article with the permission of the author through a Creative Commons license, respecting his freedom to publish it in other sources.