Young Nicaraguans, who promote educational quality, announced the launch of the new “social audit” platform called the Nicaraguan Observatory of Academic Freedom and Educational Quality. The organization will be aimed at “disseminating data and information on the state of autonomy, quality and university academic freedom in Nicaragua.”
“Nicaragua was declared an educational emergency by the broad Nicaraguan youth and student movement in 2021 due to the complete disappearance of university autonomy in public universities, the persecution and repeated violations of the human rights of youth and student activists, as well as the cancellation and confiscation of private universities by the State of Nicaragua”, they explained this August 26, when they announced the digital platform that will collect these issues.
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Regarding the mechanism of the platform, they assure that “the data is collected directly with interviews with natural and legal victims, review of human rights reports from international organizations and field monitoring by student activists from more than 10 organizations. and grassroots groups with a presence in the territory».
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In addition to revealing data on “the serious effects on academic freedom and educational quality,” the observatory will also provide support to affected students, teachers and administrative staff in their search for justice before the international community in conjunction with the Inter-American Legal Assistance Center in Human Rights (CALIDH).
The regime carried out a “decapitation” of private universities between December 2021 and February 2022, actions that increased the power of the National Council of Universities, which is now responsible for approving the content of academic programs and appointing professors, rectors, and vice-rectors. . The outlawed universities had taken in students from public universities who were expelled and had their academic records canceled for participating in the protests in 2018.
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A large number of students were affected by this decision. Among the annihilated universities are the Polytechnic University of Nicaragua (Upoli) and the Paulo Freire University (UPF), which had degrees in legal sciences, political sciences and psychology. In addition, the Ortega administration ordered the withdrawal of the constitutional 6% corresponding to the Central American University (UCA).
After the confiscation of these houses of higher education, the National Assembly approved turning the campuses into “new state universities” in which most only had a reduction in fees.
Given this, the observatory also intends to bring to light “data and testimonies of violations of the human right to education in Nicaragua and the search for justice for the victims of the State.”
