Based on the results of the second monthly report of the inspection plan for the higher education system in the context of COVID-19, the Superintendency of Higher Education (SES) initiated inspection actions against 56 institutions -of the 134 included in the report- due to lags in academic activities and low attendance during the second semester of 2021.
In terms of lagged activities corresponding to the academic year 2020, a total of 22 schools were officiated, while due to low attendance, actions were established in 34 institutions, where less than 20% of their students attended at least once in person during September, a range that is well below the system average.
With these actions, the Superintendency of Higher Education will seek, first, to know the reasons that have prevented these universities, professional institutes and technical training centers from advancing at a greater pace and, second, to verify that they are effectively adopting all the necessary measures to reach the highest state of normality that their particular reality and sanitary conditions allow them.
If, as a result of this process, it is determined that there are institutions that have not had adequate planning or have not executed the necessary measures to progressively resume face-to-face activities, the Superintendency may instruct the corresponding administrative sanctioning procedures.
Presence in September
In this matter there is a degree of progress. If in August the number of students who attended at least once in person at the facilities of their universities, professional institutes and technical training centers was 323,342, in September this figure reached 384,855, registering an increase of 19%, which is that marks an average attendance of the system close to 30%.
Credit: SES
Among the positive aspects, the progress of the universities is striking, which together marked a 9.4 percentage point increase compared to the August report, going from 18.5% students who at least once attended their facilities in a presence to 27.9% in September, which in total represented more than 213 thousand students in the classrooms during September.
This trend was followed by professional institutes that continue to lead this indicator, thanks to the fact that one in three of their students attended in person at least once (33.7%) during September.
Although the figures show the efforts of many institutions to normalize the delivery of their educational service, 56 houses of study (41.8% of the total) still report that less than 20% of their students attended at least once in a way. face-to-face in September (in August this figure was 75 houses of study).
Credit: SES
2020 pending activities
The September results show that 43.3% of the institutions declare that they maintain lagging activities corresponding to the 2020 academic year. A very worrying aspect, especially at the university level, where the percentage of delay reaches 60% of these institutions.
Mobility restrictions, a product of the pandemic, hit institutions hardest during the past year, especially with regard to compliance with face-to-face activities, such as off-campus internships, a subject in which 26.5% of the study houses show lags; laboratories and workshops (19.5%), clinical fields (20.3%) and, especially, in titration processes, where a third of the system carries this problem (34.4%).
Credit: SES
