Government progress in strengthening public education

The National Government presents the progress made regarding additional resources for strengthening public Higher Education within the framework of agreements with students and professors in the country.

During the sixth follow-up meeting of the Dialogue Table for the Construction of Agreements for Public Higher Education, with the participation of the National Government, students, professors, the REDTTU and the State University System -SUE, and the support of representatives from the Ministry of Labor, the Ombudsman's Office, the Presidential Advisor for Human Rights, the National Planning Department and the National Federation of Departments, the Government presented the methodology and the amounts for the distribution of resources allocated to the 61 public Higher Education Institutions, from the General Budget of the Nation for operation and investment, in order to strengthen public higher education as follows:

Resources for the budget base amounting to $110,000 million, transferred in May and corresponding to the commitment to increase operating resources by 3.5 percentage points above the CPI in 2019.

It is important to remember that the National Government, in order to continue with this purpose, will allocate resources as follows: in 2020: CPI + 4.0%, 2021: CPI + 4.5%, 2022: CPI + 4.65%, which corresponds to a real growth of the Nation's contributions and a budgetary effort equivalent to more than 1.3 trillion.

Investment funds totaling 1,410,000 million pesos were distributed through the formulation of Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs), a tool used by Higher Education Institutions to establish priority investment projects for 2019, with the aim of improving their institutional conditions. An additional 1,485,000 pesos will be allocated for this purpose during the current administration.

These plans were formulated within the framework of 5 proposed lines of investment: Student welfare and retention, Research, Teacher training, Regional and rural strengthening, and Infrastructure adaptation and improvements.

Resources allocated for debt settlement in 2019 amounted to 1.25 trillion pesos, which were distributed based on the financial, budgetary, treasury, and planning characteristics reported to the Ministry of National Education. These funds will be disbursed once public Higher Education Institutions submit a Debt Payment Plan. For the next four years, an additional 1.5 trillion pesos will be allocated for this purpose.

The surpluses of the Cooperatives, amounting to $36.048 million for operations, are distributed using a synthetic index methodology that values access, quality and institutional strengthening.

Resources allocated to the twelve (12) Technical, Professional, Technological and University Institutions – ITTU, which are decentralized at the territorial level and whose creation regulations do not bind the Nation in their financing or do not have appropriate budget allocations through the Ministry of Education, for an amount of $15,664 million, which were distributed taking into account the financial situation and institutional strengthening of these 12 public Higher Education Institutions.

These resources are in addition to the resources that have been managed to date through the General Royalties System, in which 1.5 trillion pesos were authorized for higher education for the 2019-2020 biennium, and regarding which it was reported that:

Twenty-eight public Higher Education Institutions (23 universities and 5 ITTUs) have reported 56 infrastructure and equipment projects, totaling 1,506,000 million pesos, impacting 18 departments. These institutions are seeking access to the 1,500,000 million pesos allocated for 2019. Of these, 7 projects worth 1,520,310 million pesos have been approved, and other projects worth 1,264,123 million pesos are currently under review. It should be noted that the Ministry of Education will also provide a technical team to support the institutions and assist them in the project formulation process.

Regarding the allocation of $125,000 million for the Bicentennial Doctoral Excellence Scholarship Call, the results were presented in which 493 proposals were approved, of which 297 (60%) correspond to professors or occasional professors, fulfilling the commitment to include them as potential beneficiaries.

Regarding the allocations of $125,000 million for the Call for Strengthening Institutional and Research Capacities of Public Higher Education Institutions, whose results will be delivered in October.

The National Government also presented the progress made on the other points of the agreement:

Regarding the regulatory adjustment to the quality measurement of Publindex journals, five sessions of the Publindex technical committee have been held, in which recommendations are being developed on public policies for scientific and outreach publications, which take into account disciplinary differences; ethics and efficiency of editorial processes, from various areas of science, such as social sciences and humanities, artists and ancestral and non-disciplinary knowledge.

Regarding the reform of ICETEX, progress is being made in the proposal for an organizational change that will be characterized as comprehensive, profound, inclusive, rigorous, responsible with the agreement, the expectations of users, the needs of the sector and the country, achieving a harmonious balance between its function of promoting Higher Education and its role as a financier of the system.

Regarding the reform to the General Royalties System (SGR), it was reported that the proposed legislative act must undergo eight debates in the Congress of the Republic (four have been completed to date) across two legislative sessions. The proposed legislative act, currently under discussion, stipulates that SGR resources must be allocated to finance investment projects that contribute to the social, economic, educational, and environmental development of territorial entities, and additionally allocates 101% of the resources for investment in science, technology, and innovation.

The Recognition of the 100% discount for voting for public Higher Education Institutions, is being processed in the Congress of the Republic under No. 177/18 Senate, was approved in second debate on September 16, 2019. This week it goes to debate in the First Committee and subsequently to the Plenary of the Chamber.

Regarding the Appropriated Uncommitted Balances, it was reported that the National Government will allocate $78.500 million for 2020 for the institutional and research strengthening of public Higher Education Institutions and for CTeI programs or projects through the National Fund for Financing Science, Technology and Innovation “Francisco José de Caldas” of Colciencias.

In response to the Human Rights Committee's work, 296 cases have been received, and communications have been sent to the 11 public Higher Education Institutions registered with "labor" cases arising from the social protests. The National Government wishes to emphasize the importance of facilitating these dialogues among all institutional actors responsible for resolving the situations presented.

These actions reaffirm the commitment of the National Government to public higher education in the country, honoring the agreements signed within the framework of the Dialogue Table for the construction of agreements for public higher education.

Source: MEN

More institutional news from the News Agency