THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AND THE DEMAND FOR QUALITY
IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Write: Dr. Eudoro Terrones Negrete (*)
According to the Constitution the State has the duty to specify stringent requirements for the establishment of universities, and to monitor and ensure quality education that taught them and their subsidiaries, but it appears that the state abdicated its constitutional duty and has taken all necessary measures to avert the crisis in the universities are discussed, monitor the quality of education provided and ensure a college education quality.
For its part, the Congress, before pushing a radical reform in higher education has created more universities without the rigorous technical support, feasibility study, etc. and passed laws that were soon declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, as the recent case of Law No. 28564 and on the regulation and exercise of the powers assigned to CONAFU in authorizing the operation of universities and university affiliates.
At the same time the State did not give priority to education in the allocation of regular budget resources of the Republic and instead assigned each year the percentage was decreasing and thus the problems are more acute, while that proliferated operation over subsidiaries of universities without official authorization and others came under the umbrella of judgments.
Faced with this unfortunate situation and after a critical and realistic analysis of the problems of university education in Peru and in strict compliance with its social, historical, legal and ethical, judges of the Constitutional Court and delivered :
"The above to declare the existence of an unconstitutional state of affairs structural in the university education system" and that the State must take immediate measures necessary institutional (Legislative, administrative, economic, etc.) To reform the system of university education in the country, so as to ensure the fundamental right of access to quality higher education recognized by the Constitution " (Ruling court issued the Exp.N º 00017-2008-PI/TC, Lima, June 15, 2010, before the constitutional claim filed by more than 5,000 citizens, against the Law N º 28,564).
The Constitutional Court bears the signatures of judges Vergara Gotelli, Mesia Ramirez, Landa Arroyo, Beaumont Callirgos, Calle Hayen, Eto and Alvarez Cruz Miranda.
The Constitutional Court (TC) has also decided to declare "the inconstitucionaldiad, for connectedness, Article 2 of Law No. 26439, as assigned powers to CONAFU in authorizing the operation of universities, for violating the fundamental right everyone to the objective impartiality of the court, through its resolutions, decides on its rights or obligations (paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 139 of the Constitution "and therefore the CONAFU" is prevented from exercising the aforementioned powers. "
The TC has obliged the state to implement the following measures:
a) " The immediate and permanent closure of any university affiliate that has not been regularly ratified or approved, in turn, by the CONAFU. A does not reach them for any university autonomy have been created outside the legal system. In this case, the State shall take the necessary measures to protect the rights of students, teachers and workers who are affected. "
b) " The creation of a highly specialized Superintendent, objectively fair, and effectively supervised by the State , that has, inter alia the following responsibilities: (i) Evaluate all the country's universities and their respective subsidiaries adopting the necessary measures, where necessary, raise their level of educational quality. (Ii) Evaluate all universities and affiliated endorsed or authorized by the CONAFU and take the necessary measures, where necessary, raise their level of educational quality. This evaluation should include university subsidiaries whose operation has been authorized by law. (Iii) Ensure that the entrance examination to universities comply with appropriate levels of enforcement and intellectually rigorous, taking into account that according to Article 13, subsection 2 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the university higher education should be accessible to all "on the basis of individual capacity. "
7. "To declare, in accordance with the legal base 207, supra, that under the constitutional requirement to promote a college education to work (articles 14 and 23 of the Constitution), the legislature is required to establish between the conditions the creation of new universities, the demonstration that careers that are intended to implement, are adapted to the national labor market demand. "
VOTING BASICS OF JUDGES
As fundamentals vote of the judges of TC, Concerning the demand of quality in higher education, partially transcribed under the judges Gotelli Juan Vergara, Ernesto Miranda Alvarez, Gerardo Cruz and Fernando Street Eto Hayen.
Judge John F. Gotelli .- VERGARA "5. Universities are educational institutions dedicated to higher education, which carried out the training process, by providing the users of that public service expertise in the various fields for optimal performance of the professional in society. Thus, given the existence of a fundamental right to university education the universities erected as centers of research, intellectual, cultural transmission and other services capable of providing human beings with sufficient information and training that ensures security of a good professional performance of community service. In this sense the human being becomes the recipient of a qualified service given by the universities, forcing them to adopt the means necessary to make viable the transmission of the knowledge and quality, adapting to it the necessary infrastructure and all that would ensure an appropriate educational service to meet the primary objective of training top professionals, able to perform with dignity and security within society and to serve her. 6. Thus it is evident that the role of universities is not confined merely to the transfer of knowledge that transcends dislocated but axiological function tells us that human beings acquire knowledge not only qualified at the university and strengthens its personality, ideology, their values, morals, etc.., becoming an entity it can not simply be machined professionals in their work but solvent moral and professional people to ensure the qualified service company. " Judge
MIRANDA ERNESTO ALVAREZ .- "The achievement a sound professional training becomes an order of axiological and technical college education, as there is a mutual overlap between the existence of a genuine intellectual elite and boosting the country's development process, based on what we might call an information society and in a knowledge economy. Then, the ultimate goal is to institutionalize professions but not the proper training of university graduates with job placement dignity. "
"In order to safeguard the quality of education, we must ensure that higher education and careers that they are offered, commensurate with the demand labor market ... "
" Monitoring the quality of education should be made ex ante, ie before developers are allowed to develop the educational activity, and ex post, through a continuous and rigorous evaluation, to ensure in any interval of exercise that is separate to the educational purpose. In this line, also applies to educational institutions themselves implement mechanisms for excellence: a permanent internal control would ensure the quality of assessment processes and formalization, through a system with ever-higher standards imposed standards, aimed at generating a internal culture of quality education; and a periodic external audit conducted by impartial bodies that are not linked directly or indirectly evaluated entities, mind the implementation of a stringent and mandatory accreditation and audit. "
Judge GERALD CRUZ .- ETO "Within this context, it is clear that these expensive ideals could be seriously compromised, if not frustrated if the state permission to create" a right and left "of universities and university affiliated with the pretext of promoting the free private initiative, as this would be tantamount to consent to the abuse of rights, in this case that recognized in the second paragraph of Article 18 of the Constitution. Indeed, the purpose of the university as a center of learning and research would be mortally wounded if the state does not control the quality of education actually provided, a quality that, as I explained, is the justification for the university as a social institution . Naturally, this makes more sense if we consider the problem of university education in Peru is not only or primarily quantitative, but qualitative basically. "
"... the state should make a firm commitment to create an environment conducive to the genesis of world class universities which combine the concentration of talent, abundant funding and proper governance, which is the standard currently required by globalization. "
Hayen Judge FERNANDO STREET .- " On the other hand, under item 7 of the operative part and the foundation on which rests (cf. legal basis 207), which provides that" the legislature is required to establish between the conditions for the creation of new universities, the demonstration that the careers that suit seek to implement the national labor market demand "should be clear that this measure, based on the free choice of the law by the legislature, it can comply with the establishment of a mechanism for comparison between the proposed creation of a new university which should have a projected rate of employability, and the reality of the placement of graduates market works, the comparison should shed as a result of evidence that has exceeded the minimum rate mandated by the legislature, that in view of the aims of promoting healthy competition in offering quality education and adequate protection demand satisfaction by avoiding the installation of a sort of monopoly in the tender offer referred to. "
(*) collegiate journalist, professor y Coordinador académico de la Escuela Profesional de Periodismo / Universidad Jaime Bausate y Meza.
