Mercantilización de la Educación

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Sudáfrica: Debunking Misconceptions Surrounding Free Education

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África/Sudáfrica/10 de Septiembre de 2016/Autor: Mohammed Jameel Abdulla/Fuente: All Africa

RESUMEN: Las protestas por las tasas universitarias están siendo títulares otra vez, después de la conflagración en la Universidad de KwaZulu-Natal. El debate sobre cómo financiar la educación gratuita no es nuevo, está evolucionando y sigue siendo una pregunta abierta a pesar de el aparente «consenso» entre los vicerrectores universitarios. Aquí hay cuatro mitos sobre la viabilidad de la enseñanza gratuita que tienen que ver ahora mismo.

Protests over university fees are making headlines again, following the conflagration at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The debate on how to fund free education is not new, is evolving and remains an open question despite what the apparent «consensus» seems to be from university vice chancellors. Here are four myths about the viability of free education that need to go right now.

1. Free education can be thought of separately from the vision of a decolonised society

There’s a deep misunderstanding within public discourse that free education is simply a matter of funds and accessibility. While access to education is fundamentally a social concern relating to historic inequality, the problem is inseparable from our vision of a decolonised South Africa.

Part of the discussion on decolonisation critiques the model of education embodied by the US education system, where education has become predominantly a matter of getting a certificate that ensures economic viability. In this model, education is a commodity that serves the interest of a production-based system where individuals are simply «rational» market agents.

The challenge to this model, posed by movements such as #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall, is the ideal of the university as a liberatory site of knowledge production – a space where scholars are provided with the knowledge, skills and training they need to better serve society.

To this end, the institutional culture, makeup of staff and management and question of curriculum cannot be separated from the question of university funding. Funding, in fact, provides the backdrop from which all these questions might be posed.

2. NSFAS and loans to fund education are progressive funding mechanisms

Loans are not an equitable way of funding education because student debt primarily affects poor and historically disadvantaged students.

Additional debt for these students would simply add to the burden of «black tax». Many black students have more than just their own individual expenses to consider, and bear the responsibility of contributing to household and extended family expenses straight out of school. After graduation, debt decreases the social mobility of students, who are hampered in their ability to afford their own housing, transport and expenses – expenses that more privileged students may already have covered through generational wealth.

Fear of debt also affects the career choices students make. For example, a poor student who wants to become a teacher in order to help address South Africa’s education crisis, might choose a more lucrative career path in order to pay off their student debt more quickly.

Many argue that that loans take financial pressure off of government. Yet these loans are assured by the state – meaning that the state must pay back the debt when students default on repayments. As NSFAS continues struggling to recover the R21 billion in loans, the state remains under financial pressure irrespective.

3. Getting in bed with corporates is a viable alternative for funding

Another prevalent argument is that to fund free education, universities have to resort to private partnerships in order to meet socially progressive ends.

But corporate funding, like government funding, comes with strings attached. It is willfully ignorant to assume that private interests may impact university autonomy any less than government interests. Corporations are profit driven and will only be involved if it serves their interests or if there is commercial benefit. Private funding affects what gets approved for research. This directly influences the intellectual output of universities and the freedom of academics. Scholarships and bursaries tend to favour studying STEM disciplines – the science, technology, engineering and mathematics streams – which again affects the decisions poorer students make when selecting a course of study. Corporations are also more likely to fund historically white universities such as UCT and Wits as they have more marketable exposure – this further entrenches inequality between universities.

When universities begin to operate like businesses, we see a similar commodification of education to meet commercial ends.

4. Government ain’t got the cash, brah

One of the main arguments we hear for why free education is unattainable claims that the taxes collected by government are not enough to fund free education and that taxpayers are already overburdened.

But there have been several suggestions for how tax could be used to fund free education.

Most government tax revenue comes from Private Income Tax (PIT) and Value Added Tax (VAT). As some have proposed, we could increase the PIT for the top 10% of income earners to increase tax revenue and still be taxing less than other developing countries. A study recently released by the University of Stellenbosch showed that 90-95% of all wealth (assets such as property, shares, cars etc.) is owned by just 10% of SA’s population. Wealth speaks a lot more directly to intergenerational inequality, and thus taxing it more heavily also falls in line with redistributive justice. Tax of wealth itself currently only accounts for 0.1% of tax revenue.

It may also be possible to reallocate funds in the national budget to prioritise issues like education and housing, while decreasing spending in other areas, like military spending. Heck, we could even rescind on a costly – and dodgy – nuclear deals.

Higher education is currently chronically, historically and comparatively underfunded by government and so, irrespective of the schemes involved, government has not been pulling its weight.

Fuente: http://allafrica.com/stories/201609081111.html

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Nueva Zelanda: Global funding’ for schools challenged

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Oceanía/Nueva Zelanda/09 de Septiembre de 2016/Autora: Jane Patterson/Fuente: RNZ

RESUMEN: Un grupo asesor creado para examinar nuevas propuestas de financiación de educación dice que no es compatible con un sistema de capitalización global. El Grupo Asesor de Financiación, compuesto de maestros y dirigentes sindicales, fue establecido por el gobierno para considerar cambios en el sistema de financiación de la educación. Se hizo de apoyo  de otra propuestas presentadas por el gobierno, incluyendo cambios en la financiación de las escuelas privadas, propiedad de la escuela y los niños en situación de riesgo. Pero señaló que era demasiado pronto para hacer recomendaciones acerca de si debe o no proceder a un cambio mayor para el modelo de financiación de la escuela, según sea necesario más trabajo por hacer. El grupo dijo que los beneficios potenciales de financiación mundial serían compensados por los costes y riesgos de la introducción de dicha política, junto con la preocupación por no tener garantizados los niveles de personal en las escuelas.

An advisory group set up to consider new education funding proposals says it does not support a move to global funding.

That policy would let schools trade teacher funding for money they can spend on other things, and has been strongly opposed by teacher unions.

The Funding Advisory Group, comprised of teachers and union leaders, was set up by the government to consider changes to the education funding system.

It did support other proposals put forward by the government, including changes to funding for private schools, school property and at-risk children.

But it noted it was too early to be making recommendations about whether or not to proceed with a wholesale change to the school funding model, as more work needed to be done.

The group said the potential benefits of global funding would be outweighed by the costs and risks of introducing that policy, alongside concerns about not having guaranteed staffing levels in schools.

Minister of Education Hekia Parata thanked the group for its engagement.

She said it was only the second t

Ms Parata was «not surprised» by the group’s opposition to global funding, she said.

«The group’s report, and together with feedback from around 90 regional meetings with teachers and principals, will help inform my report to Cabinet on the options to take forward.»

She said the earliest any changes would be made would be 2019.
‘Very poorly thought through’

The Labour Party said global funding for schools should never have been on the table in the first place.

Its education spokesperson, Chris Hipkins, said he was not surprised that proposal had been rejected by the sector.

«That’s a good thing and I hope the government will take that advice, but there are other elements to the proposal that are intricately linked with global funding I also hope they’ll reconsider.

«The per-student funding amount would be very difficult to implement. What’s clear from what we’ve seen so far is the proposals were very poorly thought through in the first place, the government clearly didn’t do its homework or consider the implications.»

Fuente: http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/312849/’global-funding’-for-schools-challenged

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Estados Unidos: Locking out professors is an affront to education

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América del Norte/Estados Unidos/09 de Septiembre de 2016/Autor: Steven W. Thrasher/Fuente: The Guardian

RESUMEN:  Volver a la escuela en Estados Unidos esta semana, por lo general significa una cosa en los campus universitarios: es hora de que las administraciones universitarias atornillen a sus profesores y a sus estudiantes de todo el dinero posible. En el campus de Brooklyn de la Universidad de Long Island, la universidad negoció con sus profesores un nuevo contrato, la administración ha bloqueado a sus 400 profesores sindicalizados que les impide acceder a sus cuentas de correo electrónico, e inmediatamente cortando los beneficios de la salud de los trabajadores, sus socios – e incluso a sus hijos. Un bloqueo preventivo es un movimiento extremo en cualquier conflicto laboral. Los profesores creen que es la primera vez en la historia de la educación superior estadounidense que se ha producido un bloqueo.

It’s back to school across the United States this week, and that usually means one thing on college campuses: it’s time for university administrations to screw their faculty and their students out of much money as possible.

At Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus, as the university negotiated with its faculty over a new contract, the administration locked its 400 unionized professors out – barring them from campus, blocking them from accessing their email accounts, and immediately cutting off healthcare for the workers, their partners – and even their children.

A pre-emptive lockout is an extreme move in any labor dispute, one typically associated with robber barons keeping coalminers out of shafts while bringing in scab labor. Faculty members believe it the first time in the history of US higher education that a lockout has occurred.

LIU did not respond to multiple requests for comment from me, but university counsel told the New York Times that the university had locked out their faculty because “the last five out of six contracts, the faculty has gone on strike, and they have created chaos and virtually shut down the institution at the start of classes”. In a statement, LIU wrote that its “Brooklyn faculty and adjuncts are well compensated when compared to peers at other institutions within the tri-state area and nationally,” with benefits which “exceed industry standards”.

But if LIU wanted to trim costs, it might start with the salary of its president, Kimberly Cline, who was paid $476,232 in 2013, the most recent year for which public records are available. And the timing of a lockout is strange, considering it happened on 1 September – and the union wasn’t scheduled to vote on the proposed contract until 6 September.

As Stuart Fishelson, professor of media arts, points out, “We didn’t vote to strike – it was a strike authorization! We were prepared to work while we continued negotiating in good faith.”

Meanwhile, as the Nation also reported, Fishelson says that LIU had been planning to have administrators and freelancers teach classes that they might not have any qualifications to teach. “They hired faculty from monster.com, and none of the temporary faculty have been reviewed by the proper process – which means the university could lose its accreditation if there is an audit,” he claims.
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Syed Ali, a professor of sociology at LIU (and an academic colleague of mine), told me he knew something was up in July when someone updated his Blackboard teaching software account. He forwarded an email he’d sent to administration which read: “Why are there syllabi in my courses in Blackboard and who put them there? They are four years old and not applicable anymore. And why does someone else have access to my account?” (He had forwarded that email to his external account at the time, and since he can’t get into his LIU email, he doesn’t remember the response.)

For LIU to hire scab instructors is pretty galling, especially considering its tuition is more than $34K. But while LIU’s actions may seem extreme, they are quite in line with the trend for American universities to charge a fortune in tuition – increasing faster than inflation – while also trying as hard as possible not to pay much of that to the instructors who provide the actual education. As a doctoral student myself, I often get emails soliciting instructors in the New York area, no cheap region to live. Recently, I saw a call seeking a PhD with two additional years of teaching experience to teach an introductory American Studies course to 25 students … for the grand sum of $2,775. This is all they are paying, when tuition is 41K and total direct costs to students are about 61K a year.

Where does all of this money go, if not to professors?

“For more than two decades, higher education has seen a clear pattern of income transfer to the top,” my colleague Andrew Ross, a professor of social and cultural analysis at New York University and the president of the New York chapter of the American Association of University Professors, explained to me. “As the salaries of full-time faculty stagnate or are converted into near-poverty wages for adjuncts, pay for administrators has skyrocketed.”

Fishelson, the LIU professor, says the lockout is also “part of a plan to corporatize the university”, tying into the aim of “have business people coming in to teach the classes”, akin to “what’s going on with charter schools across the country. It’s very dangerous.”

And while LIU is a private university, tuition is rising even faster at public universities. Regardless of how LIU resolves its labor standoff, some major aspects of American higher education – decreasing government support, the student loan industrial complex, real estate speculation, and administrative bloat – will remain.

And each September, when we send in a generation of smart youngsters to perpetuate these problems by indebting themselves before they’ve even joined the workforce, we are making the problem worse.

Fuente: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/08/long-island-university-lockout-faculty-education

 

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Estados Unidos: Glenn wants to kill Education Department, jeopardizing college funding for 320,000 Coloradans

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América del Norte/Estados Unidos/02 de Septiembre de 2016/Autor: Alan Gathright/Fuente: Politifact

RESUMEN: Chris Meagher, portavoz del Partido Demócrata de Colorado, dijo en un comunicado de prensa. «Glenn quiere eliminar el Departamento de Educación y poner en peligro las becas Pell y préstamos federales para estudiantes de 320.000 residentes de Colorado. Se opone a los programas de condonación de préstamos estudiantiles e incluso cree que el gobierno no tiene la responsabilidad de ayudar a frenar los crecientes costos de la educación universitaria.» El Partido Demócrata estatal tomó su mensaje a los eventos de la Universidad del Estado de Colorado y la Universidad de Colorado en Boulder. Los republicanos han pedido que se suprime el Departamento de Educación federal desde que el presidente Ronald Reagan se comprometió a hacerlo en su campaña presidencial de 1980. El departamento fue creado en 1867, pero no se convirtió en un organismo de nivel ministerial hasta 1980. «establece la política para, administra y coordina la mayor ayuda federal a la educación», de acuerdo con el sitio web del departamento. El presidente Barack Obama ha solicitado un presupuesto del departamento $ el 69,4 mil millones para el año fiscal 2017. programas de grado kínder hasta el 12º de la agencia anualmente atienden a alrededor de 50 millones de estudiantes que asisten a más de 98.000 escuelas públicas y 28.000 escuelas privadas. los programas del Departamento también proporcionan donación, préstamo, y la asistencia de trabajo y estudio a más de 13 millones de estudiantes que asisten a la universidad y otros programas de educación superior. Cuando se le preguntó lo que los recortes de gastos significativos que apoyaría para equilibrar el presupuesto y reducir el déficit anual, Glenn respondió en parte: «Estoy a favor de la eliminación y el desfinanciamiento de todas las agencias como los departamentos de educación y energía, ya que quedan fuera del marco de la Constitución. «

The Colorado Democratic Party says Republican U.S. Senate candidate Darryl Glenn wants to eliminate the Education Department and «jeopardize» federal student funding for more than 300,000 Coloradans.

«Darryl Glenn as a United States senator would be no friend to students,» Chris Meagher, spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party, said in a news release. «Glenn wants to eliminate the Department of Education and jeopardize Pell Grants and federal student loans for 320,000 Coloradans. He opposes student loan forgiveness programs and even believes the government has no responsibility to help curb the rising costs of a college education.»

The state Democratic Party took its message to events at Colorado State University and the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Republicans have called for abolishing the federal Education Department since President Ronald Reagan vowed to do so in his 1980 presidential campaign.

The department was created in 1867 but did not become a Cabinet-level agency until 1980. It «establishes policy for, administers and coordinates most federal assistance to education,» according to the department website.

President Barack Obama has requested a $69.4 billion department budget for fiscal year 2017. The agency’s kindergarten-through-12th grade programs annually serve about 50 million students attending more than 98,000 public schools and 28,000 private schools. Department programs also provide grant, loan, and work-study assistance to more than 13 million students attending college and other postsecondary programs.

We wanted to fact-check this statement by the state Democratic Party: «(Darryl) Glenn wants to eliminate the Education Department and jeopardize Pell Grants and federal student loans for 320,000 Coloradans.»

The Colorado Department of Higher Education, the agency that oversees the state’s public university and college system, confirms that nearly 324,000 people in the state received federal student aid in fiscal year 2015. State students received a total of $1.4 billion in federal student aid.

We asked the Democratic Party for information supporting the claim about Glenn’s intentions for the Education Department and federal grants and loans. Meagher pointed to responses Glenn made to a candidate survey for the Denver Post’s June Voter Guide.

Asked what significant spending cuts he would support to balance the budget and reduce the annual deficit, Glenn replied in part: «I support the elimination and defunding of all agencies like the Education and Energy Departments because they fall outside of the framework of the Constitution.»

«Does the federal government have a responsibility to help with student debt, and what ideas do you think would make a difference?» the Post asked.

«No,» Glenn said. «There is no constitutional basis for the federal government to be mandated to assist with student debt. Better educating our college students on the risks of high student debt and helping them to find alternatives to taking out student loans would help make the difference to their financial future.»

Glenn put his position a little differently on his campaign website, saying he puts more stock in parents managing students’ financial burdens than the federal government.

«I’m not talking about cutting one dime out of education. I’m talking about who is in charge,» Glenn wrote. «I trust Colorado families and teachers way more than I trust D.C. central planners who think they know better than parents do.»

Glenn says instead of sending millions of dollars to the Education Department, «I believe those dollars should be returned to Colorado so parents, teachers and superintendents have the freedom to make choices and direct the education of their kids.»

Glenn campaign spokeswoman Katey Price told PolitiFact, «Eliminating the Department of Education doesn’t mean cutting education; it means returning all those dollars back to the states. These things aren’t in conflict.»

How would it work?

Glenn has not said how the federal funding should be «returned» to Colorado parents and local school districts. For example, would state government administer the funding? Price also did not elaborate.

An expert on student financial aid systems said state-run programs lack the federal government’s ability to leverage better interest rates for students.

«What the federal government does when it makes student loans is to use its size to get lower rates than states and MUCH lower than students are able to get on unsecured loans,» Robert Shireman, a former deputy undersecretary in the Department of Education for the Obama administration, said in an email to PolitiFact.

Shireman was the architect of a 2010 financial aid overhaul by the Obama administration and Congress, which had the federal government lend directly to students — eliminating the government-subsidized private sector loan program.

«While there have been state loan programs, they tend to be small and usually lack helpful protections like income-based repayment (which is possible because the federal government has income information through the IRS),» added Shireman, who is now a senior fellow at The Century Foundation, a left-leaning think tank.

The New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, the largest state-based program in the nation, has become a symbol of the pitfalls of state loan programs.

A ProPublica and New York Times investigation found the New Jersey program charged higher interest rates than similar federal programs and, in disputes, the state aggressively uses lawsuits against borrowers along with its power to garnish wages, seize state income tax refunds, revoke professional licenses and even take away lottery winnings.

A 2015 story titled, «What Happens If We Abolish the Department of Education?» by the New America think tank, said eliminating the department and its student aid funding would likely lead to the closure of some private schools and community colleges and a decrease in the number of people going to college. The story said it would also increase the number of people seeking to attend state schools, and likely require a jump in state taxes to support public colleges and universities.

Our Ruling

The Colorado Democratic Party said Darryl Glenn «wants to eliminate the Department of Education and jeopardize Pell Grants and federal student loans for 320,000 Coloradans.»

Glenn has acknowledged he wants to abolish and defund the department, adding «there is no constitutional basis for the federal government to be mandated to assist with student debt.»

He said he wants the federal education department’s funding to be «returned to Colorado so parents, teachers and superintendents have the freedom to make choices and direct the education of their kids.» But he doesn’t propose an alternative, such as an organization to administer a state loan program.

Fuente: http://politifact.com/colorado/statements/2016/aug/31/colorado-democratic-party/colorado-dems-say-darryl-glenn-wants-eliminate-dep/

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Nueva Zelanda: ENZ prioritises sustainable growth after boom years

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Oceanía/Nueva Zelanda/02 de Septiembre de 2016/Autor: Anton Crace/Fuente: The PIE News

RESUMEN: La Educación en Nueva Zelanda  puso en marcha una serie de iniciativas y programas en la Conferencia Internacional de Educación de Nueva Zelanda (#NZIEC), celebrada en Auckland este mes, con el objetivo de reforzar la industria, después de 2016 los números iniciales de visados indica una caída en los estudiantes. Las iniciativas incluyen proyectos de promoción regionales; programas de desarrollo profesional; nuevo estudio de oportunidades en el extranjero; y una serie de videos que promueven los sectores profesionales y vocacionales de educación (PAVE) de la universidad y la escuela. En su discurso de apertura, el director ejecutivo ENZ  Grant McPherson también hizo hincapié en la importancia de encontrar nuevas formas de satisfacer las necesidades de los estudiantes y desarrollar métodos de entrega para mantener al país a la vanguardia en el sector de la educación global: «ENZ se toma en serio nuestro papel para crear una industria de la educación internacional sostenible «. La llave entre el trabajo de ENZ para mejorar la sostenibilidad de Nueva Zelanda, el Programa de Asociación regional tiene como objetivo mejorar la cuota de mercado de sus 15 regiones. En 2015, Auckland atrajo casi dos tercios de la población de estudiantes internacionales en el país, más de seis veces la segunda región más alta, Canterbury. La educación internacional es el quinto sector exportador del país, y de Educación de Nueva Zelanda es el objetivo de incrementar el valor de la educación internacional a $ 5 mil millones para el año 2025.

Education New Zealand launched a raft of initiatives and programmes at the New Zealand International Education Conference (#NZIEC), held in Auckland this month, aiming to bolster the industry, after initial 2016 visa numbers indicated a drop in students.

The initiatives include regional promotion projects; professional development programmes; new study abroad opportunities; and a series of videos promoting the university, school and professional and vocational education (PAVE) sectors.

In his opening address, ENZ chief executive Grant McPherson also emphasised the importance of finding new ways to meet the needs of students and develop methods of delivery to keep the country at the forefront of the global education sector, before pledging: “ENZ is serious about our role to create a sustainable international education industry.”

Key among ENZ’s work to improve New Zealand’s sustainability, the Regional Partnership Programme aims to improve the market share of its 15 regions. In 2015, Auckland attracted almost two thirds of the country’s international student population, more than six times the second highest region, Canterbury.

“ENZ has worked in partnership with regional representatives to identify a ‘regional value proposition’ for 15 regions in New Zealand,” confirmed Greg Scott, ENZ’s business development manager.

Scott told The PIE News the value propositions, which also used data compiled from government agencies, highlight the uniqueness of a region to shape its marketing materials.

Additionally, the value propositions are used for the Regional Portal, an online tool for students to explore and learn more about the regions.

“The key goal is to increase referrals sent from the Study in New Zealand website to institutions and regional cluster websites outside the Auckland region by 10% by 31 December 2016, compared to the six months from July 2015 to December 2015,” explained Scott.

Adding to the tools to help build sustainability, the Skills Lab, an online platform for industry professionals to develop their skills, was launched during McPherson’s opening speech.

ENZ general manager of business development Clive Jones said the initiative was developed to provide short professional development projects “people can snack on.”

The event also showcased a series of videos to promote the university, school and PAVE sectors.

The videos, released over the course of the year, were developed after industry consultation in mid-2014 identified individual sectors’ stories “as a key activity in the overarching and sector strategic roadmaps,” Kaylee Butters, ENZ international brand manager, said.

“This includes key messages articulating each sector’s unique benefits, as determined by the sectors themselves. Each story includes a sector film and visual assets that are available on the Brand Lab for download,” she told The PIE News.

The videos were created in addition to an ongoing series of student stories, which were played through the conference as well.

International education is the country’s fifth largest export sector, and Education New Zealand is aiming to grow the value of international education to $5bn by 2025.

Fuente: https://thepienews.com/news/enz-prioritises-sustainable-growth-after-boom-years/

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Sudáfrica: Academics warn of universities on the brink

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África/Sudáfrica/28 de Agosto de 2016/Autora: Sarah Wild/Fuente: Nature. com

RESUMEN: Más de 1.200 académicos de Sudáfrica están advirtiendo que el sistema universitario del país está en un punto de inflexión como resultado de la escasez crónica. Los investigadores de 18 universidades sudafricanas han firmado una carta abierta al Presidente Jacob Zuma, al Ministro Blade Nzimande y al Ministro de Finanzas Pravin Gordhan. La carta, enviada el 11 de agosto y también publicada en el semanario nacional del Mail & Guardian el 15 de agosto, pide al gobierno  hacer frente a la «crisis de financiación» en la educación superior. «Las funciones básicas de las universidades se están poniendo en peligro», dice la carta. «Hemos llegado a un límite. Simplemente no podemos resistir todas las incisiones sin poner en peligro el proyecto académico «. Se llega en medio de un contexto de protestas estudiantiles por el aumento de las tasas de matrícula, los recursos universitarios tensos y una investigación del gobierno sobre la educación universitaria gratuita – que según los críticos Sudáfrica no puede permitirse. El país está en la austeridad, con una previsión de crecimiento económico de 0% para el año. Las  protestas estudiantiles contra una propuesta de subida de la tarifa del 6,3% ya han provocado el cierre de los campus de la Universidad de KwaZulu-Natal y la Universidad de Tecnología de Mangosuthu a principios de este mes.

The letter, sent on 11 August and also published in the national weekly newspaper the Mail & Guardian on 15 August, calls on the government to address the “funding crisis” in higher education.

“The core functions of universities are being put under threat,” the letter says. “We have reached a limit. We simply cannot weather any further cuts without jeopardizing the academic project.”

It comes amid a backdrop of student protests at rising tuition fees, strained university resources and a government inquiry into free undergraduate education — which critics say South Africa cannot afford. The country is in austerity, with an economic growth forecast of 0% for the year.

Student protests against a proposed 6.3% fee hike have already led to the closure of campuses at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and Mangosuthu University of Technology earlier this month.

Student protests

“We’re at a tipping point. If the current trajectory continues and the state does not intervene, then we’re going to see a period of austerity which will undermine our public universities,» warns Noor Nieftagodien, a historian at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

He coordinated the open letter with colleague Kelly Gillespie at the School of Social Sciences in response to budget cuts at the school, with the hope of engaging the wider academic community. “Academics have tended to respond to these issues from their institutional base. We wanted to get as many academics as possible, irrespective of institution, geography and discipline,” he says.

South Africa’s university system is funded by government subsidies, student fees, research contracts and investments. The latest figures show that it cost about 60.6 billion rands (US$4.3 billion) in 2014.

But the government’s portion of this has been steadily declining for more than a decade — whereas student numbers have almost tripled from 360,250 to 983,698 over the past 22 years. In 2000, government grants covered about 49% of university income, falling to about 40% by 2009.

To make up the shortfall, universities have increased student fees each year for more than a decade. This resulted in the #FeesMustFall student protests last year after universities tried to raise fees by 10–12%.

Research impact

The government agreed a zero fee increase in 2016. But Ed Rybicki, a virologist at the University of Cape Town who signed the letter, says budgets are getting tighter, in part thanks to this.

Saleem Badat, a programme director at philanthropic organization the Mellon Foundation in New York and former head of Higher Education South Africa says he has «grave concerns» about another fee freeze in 2017. “I fear it may lead to the slow demise of South African universities,” he says.

Compounding the issue, at some universities, the management agreed to student demands to in-source all workers, costing hundreds of millions of rands annually.

The University of Cape Town put out a call for voluntary early retirement and severance in May this year to help cut costs.

All this may have an impact on research.  “Anything that potentially could jeopardize the sustainability of the university system has a direct implication in terms of our ability to generate new knowledge and increase research,” says Molapo Qhobela, head of the National Research Foundation in Pretoria, which funds the majority of the country’s research.

Khaye Nkwanyana, spokesman for the Department of Higher Education and Training in Pretoria, says he would “see if any officials had the appetite to respond” to media questions about the open letter. The department had not responded by the time of writing.

Fuente: http://www.nature.com/news/south-african-academics-warn-of-universities-on-the-brink-1.20492

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Formación docente, entre la corrupción y la agonía

Lev Moujahid Velázquez Barriga

Por: Lev Moujahid Velazquez Barriga

El pasado martes 23 de agosto, el periodista Luis Hernández Navarro reveló en su artículo de La Jornada La conexión regia de la reforma educativa el verdadero rostro privatizador de esta medida y los jugosos negocios que el empresariado nacional hace a través de los nuevos programas promovidos desde sus socios en el gobierno y la Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP). Particularmente, se refirió a la formación de profesores como uno de los casos más ejemplares de la complicidad gubernamental con los empresarios, al que quisiera abonar algunas ideas más.

Hasta antes de que Aurelio Nuño presentara la Estrategia nacional de formación continua de profesores de educación básica y media superior, la inversión en este rubro era ínfima, unos 200 millones de pesos anuales, que según el informe presentado por el Instituto Nacional para la Evaluación de la Educación (INEE) en 2015 representaba 361.91 pesos por cada docente de educación básica.

En consecuencia, los llamados Centros de Maestros, responsables de la formación continua del magisterio, habían sido abandonados; el mismo informe mostraba que la mitad de ellos no tenían aulas de medios, tampoco contaban con bibliotecas ni salones suficientes, los equipos de trabajo se reducían a 10 personas, entre asesores académicos y de apoyo administrativo, que debían atender alrededor de 267 escuelas; todas estas condiciones por demás precarias para enfrentar la vasta demanda de los docentes.

Repentinamente, en marzo del presente año, el secretario de Educación anunció un aumento mayor al 800 por ciento; es decir, la inversión pasaría a mil 809 millones de pesos para financiar su estrategia de formación, pero las escuelas formadoras de docentes no serían comensales en el banquete presupuestario cuya mesa estaría reservada para las grandes firmas de la economía del conocimiento, efectivamente sin licitaciones, sino a través de invitación expresa del señor Aurelio Nuño a sus amigos y cómplices de la privatización educativa.

Los cálculos monetarios que llevaron al secretario de Educación a tomar esa decisión fueron expuestos por Mexicanos Primero en febrero de este año en Prof. Recomendaciones sobre formación inicial y continua de los maestros en México, donde estimaron que por cada docente regularizado después de la evaluación para la permanencia, obtendrían unos 10 mil pesos de ganancias, para lo cual urgieron a sus socios en la SEP que se favorezca a la brevedad un consorcio de universidades para que trabajen de inmediato una plataforma común en estrecha colaboración con el INEE y la DGFDP (Dirección General de Formación y Desarrollo Profesional).

La exclusión de los convenios millonarios (600 millones por lo menos para un primer paquete de 60 mil maestros) pactados con el Tecnológico de Monterrey para la capacitación de los mentores, a través de cursos precarios, de bajo costo, mala calidad y por Internet, agudiza el proceso de desaparición de las normales, así como de los centros de actualización del magisterio y las universidades pedagógicas nacionales que han sido condenadas a la insolvencia económica y la obsolescencia en la formación inicial de los docentes, toda vez que bajo la consigna cualquiera puede ser maestro el énfasis presupuestario será en la capacitación de los no docentes que ingresen al servicio.

Estos convenios cancerígenos han hecho ya estragos profundos en los Centros de Maestros al punto de la agonía. En el caso de Michoacán, que se pudiera tomar como muestra nacional, hace seis meses que la autoridad educativa dejó de pagar luz, teléfono e Internet, de enviar insumos básicos como papelería; en varios de ellos los grupos de trabajo se redujeron a sólo dos personas que deben dar asesoría pedagógica a 6 mil profesores en promedio, a la vez que atienden tareas de carácter administrativo.

Los mecanismos de corrupción y desvío de recursos a los socios preferentes del gobierno federal para la capacitación docente han hecho tal crisis que las rentas de edificios donde funcionan dejaron de subvencionarse y están a punto de ser echados a la calle; uno de los más indignantes casos es el de la ciudad de Uruapan, donde el Centro de Maestros alberga, con 14 mil volúmenes, la segunda biblioteca de pedagogía y docencia más grande de estas instituciones en todo el estado, pero que corre el riesgo de perderse ante el oscurantismo medieval de los tecnócratas de la educación en México.

A pesar de que la SEP tiene más de un año que ya no presentó trayectos de formación para que pudieran ofertarse a través de los Centros de Maestros, en ellos persiste la necesidad de continuar impulsando proyectos propios partiendo de diagnósticos regionales, aún sin el reconocimiento oficial de sus cursos, talleres y diplomados, sin comisiones avaladas para los asesores académicos, haciendo uso de las escuelas de educación básica después del desahucio de sus aulas y edificios.

La calidad educativa en la formación de docentes de esta reforma ha significado en los hechos un sello de marca comercial producto de contratos preferenciales a través del consejo administrativo de la SEP, encabezado por Aurelio Nuño, el apagón pedagógico en aras de adquirir competencias administrativas en cursos desechables, la desprofesionalización y el desarraigo de la identidad magisterial, así como el desmantelamiento de las instituciones públicas formadoras de maestros, proceso que sólo podrá revertirse en la medida en que éstos se decidan a recuperar sus espacios e impulsen desde ahí una ruta crítica para la formación de nuevos educadores populares.

Fuente: http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2016/08/27/opinion/014a1pol

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