The Seventh International Congress of Higher Education “University 2010,” which came to a close today in Havana, Cuba, gathered important academic figures from not only Latin America and the Caribbean but also more than 64 nations. Ministers, rectors, directors, professors, researchers and students were involved in every step of the event organized by Cuba’s Ministry of Education.
In its seventh run, the event was attended by dozens of ministers from throughout Latin America and more than 200 rectors of centers of higher learning. In Cuba, there were approximately 2,100 presentations that were debated in workshops and round-table discussions.
Gathering together the most significant actors in higher education from around the world, UNESCO-IESALC covered the event with exclusive interviews, extensive photos and radio podcast programs, compiling the delegates’ perceptions and expectations.
“This event is a wonderful initiative because no matter how you look at it, education is the only profitable investment for society,” said Dr. Jose Luis Verdegay, the rector’s appointee for Information and Communication Technology at the University of Granada in Spain. “Modern or advanced society can not exist without a strong investment in education.”
In his opinion, the results coming out of this event will be very important in their application to Cuban and Spanish-American society.
For her part, Dr. Maria Rosa Depetris, director of the Postgraduate Institute of Argentina’s National University of North Eastern Province of Buenos Aires, said she expected to advance the conclusions from the last world conference of universities into concrete, timely actions.
Youth also played a strong role at the convention, which demonstrates the interest that younger generations have in participating in the debates and decision making that occur within Higher Education. Paola Alcibar, an Ecuadorean student in agricultural engineering, said that “the youth are the present and future of education. It’s important that the university body, both the educator and the student, involves itself with the community.”
Additionally, regional integration was a key focus of the discussions. “It’s very important that Latin American countries unite for education, culture and the economy,” said Elena Ramos Juarez, a professor at the Autonomous University of Hidalgo State in Mexico. “That we become nations that support each other, since we’re all developing countries.”
Shortly after the event’s conclusion, the participants of the Seventh International Congress of Higher Education will assess the proposed objectives and devise ways to follow up on the written agreements. It is hoped that forums such as this will foster even greater regional integration and academic collaboration in Latin America and the Caribbean.
More than 20 interviews and two special podcasts can be heard at www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve/puntoedu. UNESCO-IESALC’s special coverage of the event is available at www.iesalc.unesco.org.ve.
Links:
Photo Gallery of "Universidad 2010" by UNESCO-IESALC
Special coverage of "Universidad 2010" by UNESCO-IESALC
