Sunedu provides another year of operation to non-licensed universities

The National Superintendency of Higher Education (Sunedu) ordered that the universities and graduate schools to which refused the license, that they have the expired termination period and that they did not achieve an exceptional extension of their cessation of activities, can maintain their operation within a maximum period of one year.

According to Directing Council Resolution 030-2022-SUNEDU/CD, which was published this Tuesday in the official newspaper El Peruano, for this extension to take place, universities and schools with a denied license must inform Sunedu of the registration of their students and the agreements they have with other universities to proceed with the transfers.

The Superintendent of Sunedu, Oswaldo Zegarra, spoke with RPP and said that the proposed measure implies that universities, whose deadline for closure is only 2-3 months, can continue to provide their educational services for up to one year. The reason he mentions is to help students who are on the verge of finishing so that they can complete their studies and for those who have been affected by the pandemic.

“For us, the higher purpose of the student is the fundamental thing, regardless of the institutions. Sunedu, within a process of rationality, believes that we must attend to it. There are more than eight thousand students benefiting from the measure,” said Zegarra.

WILL REMAIN VALID

Zegarra clarified that young people who graduate from these universities with expired licenses will not have any problems obtaining their academic degrees once they finish their studies.

“In the termination plan, once they close their academic activity, the university is obliged, within 24 months, to give their academic degrees so that young people can finish their theses and work projects. All this is supervised and, if they do not comply with these conditions, they fall into sanctioning administrative proceedings with fines involved. Unfortunately, it has to be that way, we cannot cut that possibility (young people)”, he warned.

UNIVERSITIES AUTONOM

Over the years, the Congress of the Republic has created several bills to benefit unlicensed universities in Peru. Along the same lines, in February of this year, the law was approved that proposes to restore the autonomy and institutionality of Peruvian universities, through the modification of the Sunedu Board of Directors.

At the end of March, the vote was again taken on this measure, as the Congresswoman of the Purple Party, Flor Pablo asked that the first vote be reconsidered, but it was denied by a majority of the parliament. Currently, Sunedu's board of directors would be composed of two representatives from state universities, one from private universities, one from Concytec, one from Sineace, one from Minedu and another from the Council of Deans of Professional Associations of Peru.

It is also established that the superintendent of Sunedu shall be elected from among its representative members. The representatives of the universities that make up the board of directors will be elected in a national call by the university rectors, with the term of the call for applications in both cases being 30 working days.

The approved rule also specifies that the members of this council are elected for a three-year term and there is no re-election.

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