The future of higher education is the topic of the last axis of the CRES+5

Thematic Axis 12, the last one of the CRES+5 – follow-up meeting to the III Regional Conference on Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (CRES) – will debate the paths that higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean can take in the coming years. There is not just one, but different possible paths, which depend on a careful analysis of history, contemporary trends and a collective effort of imagination and political action.

The 12th Axis cuts across all the others and feeds on the debates and analyses proposed in each one of them. It is also a space to open up to ideas that have not yet been stated or are less visible, to emerging themes and to future possibilities that we have yet to formulate.

This axis is made up of two complementary sub-groups: “12.1 The future of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean” and “12.2 The future of higher education in the Caribbean”. The aim is to build analyses and proposals for the future – taking into account the singularities of each region- that are capable of meeting the different needs and priorities of each society. These analyses will promote greater exchange of knowledge and effective cooperation actions between Latin American and Caribbean countries. It is about valuing what is singular and strengthening the common aspects, in order to build a future of integration in solidarity- based on quality, relevant, pertinent and inclusive higher education.

WG12.1 participants

Amanda Harumy, executive secretary of the Latin American and Caribbean Continental Student Organization (Oclae); Soraya Smaili, professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the Paulista School of Medicine at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp); and Francisco Tamarit, professor at the National University of Córdoba (Argentina) and general coordinator of the III CRES.

WG12.2 consultants

Cheryl Gibson, academic tutor at the open campus of the University of the West Indies (Barbados); Dameon Black, executive director of the Jamaican Higher Education Commission; Dhana Lazarus, accreditation officer at the Grenada National Accreditation Board; Mercedes González Fernández-Larrea, professor at the University of Havana (Cuba).

Base documents

The drafts of the base documents resulting from the activities of the Working Groups (WGs) responsible for each thematic axis of the CRES+5 are now available. The fourth preparatory meeting for the Conference took place in Havana, Cuba, on February 7th and 8th. The drafts of these documents were discussed, the final version of which should be prepared by the WGs and made available on the CRES+5 website by March 6th. 

CRES+5

The follow-up meeting of the III CRES is being organized by the Ministry of Education (MEC), through the Secretariat for Higher Education (Sesu) and the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes), and by the UNESCO International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean (UNESCO IESALC). The Conference’s target audience are rectors, directors, academics, workers, students, higher education networks, associations and professionals, research centers, trade unions, representatives of governmental and non-governmental organizations and all those interested in higher education on the continent.

CRES

The III Regional Conference on Higher Education- held in Córdoba (Argentina), in June 2018- adopted a Declaration and Action Plan 2018-2028. Following the World Conference on Higher Education in 2022, the region’s higher education actors assessed the need to hold a follow-up meeting to the III CRES. It will enable to promote a participatory process that will highlight the progress made, as well as the remaining challenges and emerging issues, especially related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The CRES+5 will be the realization of this decision, making it possible to analyze the achievements of higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the same time, it will establish priorities for the next Regional Conference on Higher Education, scheduled for 2028.

MEC Social Communication Office, with information from Sesu and UNESCO IESALC