2022 Diagnostic Report on Higher Education and Science Post-Covid-19 in Latin America presented at UNPHU. Prospects and future challenges

At Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), was introduced the presentation of the 2022 Diagnostic report on Higher Education and Science Post-Covid-19 in Ibero-America. Perspectives and challenges for the future, carried out by the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), with support from CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.

The OEI Report, whose preparation integrated specialists, researchers and academics from the region, was supported by the rectors and delegates of the universities of the Red Universitaria por el Avance de la Educación Dominicana (RUNED University Network for the Advancement of Dominican Education), who led a technical work process involving more than 150 experts and more than 25 national universities, with the virtual participation of the General Secretary of the OEI, Mariano Jabonero, the manager of human social development of CAF, Pablo Bartol, and the president of the Advisory Council of the OEI, Otto Granados. 

The study analyzes how universities in the region faced the pandemic and how they became key actors to support governments in the implementation of epidemiological containment plans. It also points out that today internationalization is a more relevant area for universities, as they were able to successfully consolidate mobility in virtual mode and international cooperation networks were strengthened. “Never before has there been such articulate work in the region.” 

They conclude that Latin America and the Caribbean receives the least university mobility, and their students tend to choose the US or Europe the most to study outside their countries. More conclusions drawn from the report are the commitment to a future with shorter, more flexible programs and greater internationalization and mobility between universities, towards digital transformation in the region.

The words of welcome were given by Catalina Andújar Scheker, representative of the OEI in the Dominican Republic and architect Miguel Fiallo Calderón, rector of UNPHU and host of the event. 

At the opening ceremony were the rectors of the universities composing RUNED: Odile Camilo, of the Ibero-American University (UNIBE); Secilio Espinal, rector of the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), Julio Sánchez, rector of the Technological Institute of Santo Domingo (INTEC), Miguel Fiallo Calderón, rector of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), and Carlos Sangiovanni, vice rector of UNAPEC on behalf of rector Franklin Holguín, who reflected on the contributions of the report to strengthen public policies Higher Education and Science in Dominican Republic, referring to relevant aspects such as digital transformation, internationalization, science, among others. 

Monica Marquina, one of the main researchers of the study, presented the diagnosis analyzing the effects of the pandemic on Higher Education and Science in Latin America, how universities in the region faced the pandemic and how they became key actors to support governments, among other analyzes carried out by a research team from Universidad Nacional Tres de Febrero of Argentina.

The panel Building post-pandemic higher education in Ibero-America was presented, in which the analysis of four issues of special interest to advance towards the Ibero-American space of higher education was addressed, which are: The future of higher education and digital transformation, presented by José Armando Tavárez, general director of the Center for Technology and Permanent Education TEP-INICIA of the PUCMM and Elsa María Moquete Cruz, director of Internationalization of APEC University (UNAPEC), Towards an internationalization that transforms the role of academic mobility, presented by Altagracia López, Director of the Center for Innovation in Higher Education of INTEC and Miguel Escala, researcher in Higher Education of INTEC; Higher Education and Sustainable Development Goals, presented by Walter Lendor, Vice-Rector of Institutional Development, Quality Assurance and Projects of the Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU) and the analysis University and Science, presented by Aida Mencía Ripley, Vice-Rector of Research and Innovation of UNIBE, included in the second part of the report. This panel was moderated by Berenice Pacheco-Salazar, Head of Science, Innovation and Human Rights of the OEI.

For the conclusion, the president of the Advisory Council of the OEI, Otto Granados, made a presentation on the proposals for regional cooperation in Higher Education, based on the diagnosis and specific analyzes. 

On the Organization of Ibero-American States  

Under the slogan “Making cooperation happen”, the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) is, since 1949, the first intergovernmental body for South-South cooperation in the Ibero-American space. At the moment, 23 Member States are part of the agency with 19 national offices, in addition to its General Secretariat in Madrid.  

With active agreements with public entities, universities, civil society organizations, companies and other international organizations, the OEI represents one of the largest networks of cooperation in Latin America. Among its results, the organization currently has 16 million direct beneficiaries throughout the region.