The Council of Rectors of Chilean Universities (CRUCH), before the presentation of the Chamber of Deputies, on March 27, 2020, of the “Bill that suspends the collection of fees and other pecuniary obligations in Higher Education Institutions” , in the context of the pandemic caused by the Coronavirus or COVID-19, considers that said parliamentary motion, beyond its purposes, can seriously harm universities, their communities and their responsibility to sustain the continuity of higher education throughout the country.

It should be emphasized that since the date on which the Ministry of Health decreed a health alert for the entire national territory, universities have adopted measures aimed at controlling the spread and protecting the health of the population. This interrupted the enrollment process and for various institutions produced a significant loss of students. In any case, the CRUCH universities, from Arica to Magallanes, have made all their resources available to the national emergency, through their laboratories, research centers, experts, professionals from the different areas of health, thus demonstrating their commitment and collaboration with the health authority.

In response to these facts, the Council of Rectors has agreed to make public the following considerations regarding said parliamentary motion:

1. Aware of the contingency that economically affects Chile, the universities themselves have promoted a series of measures with the purpose of making compliance with financial commitments more flexible, granting additional facilities to those that we regularly grant to our students and their respective families, according to the needs and conditions that we have always recognized. Likewise, all institutions are attending to and seeking answers to the connectivity needs of those students who lack such means.

2. At this time it is essential to maintain the training processes and the scientific and social contributions that universities make to the country. However, in these circumstances, these tasks imply taking on new challenges that demand human and material resources that we must face with budget resources not foreseen for 2020.  

3. If universities experience declines in their already adjusted income, this will affect not only the fulfillment of their functions, but also the entire university community in the country, which will inevitably have relevant impacts on the sustainability of our institutions. This negative impact would be especially serious and insurmountable in those that play a significant social role in the different regions of the country.

4. Supporting the training of our students and the remuneration of all academics and civil servants has costs that are financed by fees, so it is inappropriate to settle through a law of general application the suspension of the same, preventing the institutions themselves from addressing specific situations of the students, without also considering the diversity of financial and academic conditions in which the institutions carry out their functions throughout the country.

5. The undelegable contribution of universities in this crisis is to provide continuity to the functions of the educational system. In this sense, we can assure that each of our study houses is currently implementing all the actions within its reach to advance via remote work and virtual classes. This requires taking care of standards of quality and equity in access and learning results for all of our students.

6. Universities must take care of the intellectual, scientific and artistic-cultural capital of the country and this certainly implies sobriety in expression and realism to weigh the diverse needs of the higher education system. A motion like the one proposed in the bill does not offer an alternative that truly addresses the common good, nor the complexity of the variables and emergencies present.

Finally, we want to be very explicit, our will will be, of course on the basis of dialogue, to welcome and ensure that no student or their families are excluded or have to add greater costs to their education in these conditions that are so adverse for everyone, and that We will not stop providing the facilities that each institution, according to its capabilities, can provide.

Source: CRUCH