SOUTH AMERICA, Troubled Chilean university set to close in 2014

Education Minister reveals relocation plans for 18,000 Universidad del Mar students.

In a special session before the Chamber of Deputies, Education Minister Harald Beyer unveiled the government’s plans Wednesday night to close Universidad del Mar following a profiteering scandal in the university. The university will officially shut down on Dec. 31, 2014.

The Education Ministry first requested the National Council of Education (CNED) close the private university in October, after a five-month investigation revealed a series of financial irregularities.
Beyer’s new announcement sought to answer questions over the future of the university’s 18,000 students, which was uncertain until Wednesday. Beyer said the students will be divided into five distinct groups based on the progress in their education.

The first group will be unaffected by the closure, as it consists of fourth and fifth year students who will graduate before the university is shut down.

The second group is designated for students in their fourth and fifth year who will not graduate before the cutoff, which the Education Ministry would help by outsourcing exams and last year internships. Remaining groups will have to be relocated to other institutions.

A specific partnership will be set up with another university for the third group, made up of medical students, so they can complete their studies. Third year students will be relocated to other schools, but the Education Ministry said it will consider providing them with scholarships.

The largest group, consisting of first and second year students – and representing 47 percent of the university’s student body – will have to be relocated to various state and private universities.

Speaking to a group of students in the National Library of Chile on Wednesday, President Sebastián Piñera stressed the program will help the Universidad del Mar students.

The relocation process will begin when Universidad del Mar delivers the curricular progress of its students to the Education Ministry, said Beyer.

The Universidad del Mar scandal has become the central case for education reform in Chile, which the government is spearheading through its overhaul of the National Accreditation Committee (CNA).

The reform comes shortly after two university directors – including Hector Zuñiga, the former director of Universidad del Mar – were arrested in November for allegedly bribing the CNA director to ensure university accreditation was granted.

“The government is committed to quality education,” President Sebastián said Wednesday. “We can not allow an institution of higher education that does not comply with the law or statutes to keep running, because it will continue cheating students.” (The Santiago Times)