An excellent and provocative work of my good friend Orlando Albornoz ("Open Letter to International Academic Community") and its "Notice of Submission" I suggest some questions. Venezuelan university itself needs reform and this should create a commission with representation from the educational institutions, public and private, more important to discuss the following:
Does your campus resources to operate efficiently? Can you get out of government, private sector or own activities? Can be resized? Is the current university structure best to operate optimally at lower cost? (Would it be possible to centralize the various chairs of the same discipline in some universities?) Is the university accountable for its entire budget including the work: wages, salaries, negotiating collective agreements, etc..? (Is the approval an appropriate system to manage the obvious differences in level between the universities and among the teachers?) What is more efficient a wide range of powers or a selection where you can focus on quality? Are there too many schools in the same discipline in our universities?
Does the university have a proper balance between pure and applied research? Do you identify with the problems of national development? Is it linked to productive enterprises? Should the university interested in the quality of secondary education and institutes of technical careers shorter?
Are the mechanisms of evaluation is the university for the education sector and their performance measured against meeting the objectives set? How
academic quality audit? How does local quality with global centers of excellence? While admitting that in a country with the current resources of Venezuela is very difficult to reach levels of developed countries, there is some top quality to aspire to be (in the classification of the 1000 best in the world does not see any Venezuelan university ) (Albornoz).
Are all university teachers trained to develop their chairs? Have you joined the university for new ways to access knowledge that has facilitated the globalization and the digital age? How should university leaders chosen? Is there adequate internal discipline to establish rewards and punishments both students and teachers? Are there resources in the country for a free college quality? Once the Commission may determine answers to these and many other questions the big question is who they will discuss the findings? How public opinion? "With the branches of government? , or remains at the sole discretion of the university?
Everyone should support the university in its modernization efforts, now that the institution is threatened.
PD: In Venezuela, the state is the only sufficient resources to finance public universities and has the right to demand good results. This does not mean you can dictate the contents of programs and treat teachers as public employees (Albornoz, dixit) PD2: Another option for reform is based on "zero base" and design the ideal college. After identifying the difficulties in converting the current ideal. PD3: We must raise the social and economic status of university professors, without whose active participation there will be no reform. Alberto_quiros@intercon.net.ve
0 comments:
Post a Comment