• Direct: latest news of the coronavirus
  • University reform Manuel Castells will bring the company closer to the university: it will promote dual careers
  • Prices. Discontent in the Autonomous Communities at Castells' proposal to lower the prices of university degrees
  • Universities.Rebellion of Uned teachers against Castells for "making propaganda" for the UOC and "none of them"

All new university curricula that are approved from now on must include compulsory education related to equality between men and women. It was announced yesterday in Congress by the Minister of Universities, Manuel Castells, who said that for the first time this measure "will be by law", and it is specified in the draft of the Royal Decree establishing the Organization of Official Teaching in the System Spanish university student , to which EL MUNDO has had access.

The text, which is in the process of public consultation, states that "among the general principles that should inspire the design of the new degrees, the curricula must take into account the Sustainable Development Goals and, in particular, that any professional activity It must be carried out with respect for fundamental rights and equality between men and women, and teaching related to these rights must be included in the curricula, in accordance with the competences inherent in the degree. "

These plans must also take into account teachings related to "the respect and promotion of Human Rights and the principles of universal accessibility and design for all people" with disabilities, as well as "the values ​​proper to a culture of peace and values democratic. "

Sources from the Ministry of Universities explain that this is a novel measure, since "there are equality units in universities, but equity is not always as present in the curricula as it could be." "The objective," they add, "is to have a plan with coordinated measures to help universities to implement them."

The measure does not sound bad to the educational community, although they predict that it will bring problems. Some university sources are of the opinion that "it does not make much sense to introduce these teachings in technical careers", while others more critical consider that it is "a mixture of Education for Citizenship and Formation for the National Spirit ".

A legal reform processed in a state of alarm

The government draft that reforms the structure of degrees and masters created in 2007 from the Bologna Plan is going to bring more problems than it seemed. First, because the educational community reproaches Castells for processing it in full alarm. Second, because, as he himself recognized yesterday in Congress, a part of a document that already existed "from the PP era has been used for its preparation.

The text introduces some of the measures that former Minister of Education Íñigo Méndez de Vigo wanted to implement , such as institutional accreditation, the creation of degrees with other European countries, the possibility of choosing careers on demand or bringing the company closer to the university so that there are degrees and masters with dual mention, where students work with an employment contract from the first day.

It also consolidates the three-year degree model that Minister José Ignacio Wert wanted to implement and that received so much criticism from the PSOE and United We Can.

Consolidation of three-year degrees

CCOO denounces that "it proposes degrees of 180 or 240 credits, and masters of 60, 90 or 120 credits" and "returns to the controversy of the 3 + 2 model, which definitively punishes students with fewer resources and favors the degree market graduate at private universities. "

For this union, Castells' proposal "includes open academic itineraries without guaranteeing academic coherence in a liberal model of a la carte public university" and "turns higher education into a market for the most privileged and at the service of the business community".

"We understand that this is not the right time to undertake a structural reform of the Spanish university system, especially when it is done by putting it at the service of private companies," says CCOO.

Other university sources believe that the draft Royal Decree "introduces decisions that especially benefit universities that are working with foreign students, such as the Open University of Catalonia (UOC)", of which Castells is a professor on leave of absence, as he imposed on three-year degrees or the increase in the number of credits that can be obtained outside of degrees from 15% to 25%.

"It opens the way to a dangerous recognition of work activity and also increases the scope and training that can be recognized within degrees, opening the way to private courses that can be carried out at universities outside of public prices "these sources add.

The text also allows evaluating titles without permission from the autonomous communities, another claim of the UOC.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • CCOO
  • Manuel Castells
  • Inigo Mendez de Vigo
  • We can
  • PSOE
  • Education
  • society
  • Coronavirus
  • Feminism

EducationTeachers see "unfeasible" that in September only half of the students return to class

Universities Manuel Castells will bring the company closer to the university: it will promote dual careers

EducationGovernment and CCAA agree to open schools in July to give voluntary reinforcement classes