Sin embargo, es pertinente revisar what is behind such a good gesture, in a follow-up that we have done to the flagship project of this administration: the Ciudad Universitaria. We begin with this question: can comparisons be made between the government proposal of President-elect Gustavo Petro and the Ciudad Universitaria project?

         Según el programa de Gobierno “ Colombia World Power of Life” by Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez, the great foundation on which the pillars of the proposals will be built is to turn Colombia into a “Knowledge Society”. For this, it establishes, in numeral 3 (which is entitled: "from inequality towards a society that guarantees rights: we will make the Constitution of 91 a reality outside of the business"), between 3.1 and 3.1.3, that there will bepublic, free and quality educationfor boys, girls and young people. Especially in numeral 3.1.3 it establishes "Free, quality public higher education: in our Government all youth will progressively have access to free, quality public education at the technological and university level at all levels so that the young people study what they want in all areas of knowledge", adding that "this implies historically raising the public budget for the entire educational system, particularly for higher education, expanding and improving infrastructure, connectivity, strengthening training conditions , update and work of the teaching staff, free enrollment, the strengthening of student welfare policies and social protection of families supporting students through intersectoral policies, as well as the amplification, diversification and creation of new universities, headquarters and programs throughout the national territory with regional participation and relevance nal and sociocultural”.

         Ahora bien, esta propuesta de Government, which is core and transversal to all the others, has its cornerstone in thepublic education, be it at the upper, middle or basic levels.Special emphasis is placed on the protection of students (and their families) in conditions of economic and/or other types of vulnerability so that, in addition to accessing higher, secondary or basic education, they remain in it and complete it. In other words, the structural limitations that impede the access and continuity of children and young people in the educational system are recognized. The interrelationship and strengthening of regional public higher education institutions is also established so that they are the ones that respond to the demand, as emphasizedin conversation with Censored, the congresswoman elected by the Historical Pact, Alexandra Vásquez.

         Al analizar el proyecto bandera de the current municipal administration of Funza, the University City, and reviewing the content of this proposal finds the following: the municipal administration has signed at least 14 cooperation framework agreements or inter-administrative agreement (with a validity, mostly, of five years ) with entities that provide higher university, technical or technological education services.

       De estos convenios, 9 están suscritos con instituciones de carácter privado y 5 con public institutions. Among the private higher education institutions are: the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana (under the same agreement with the Cafam University Foundation), the University of La Salle, the University of La Sabana, the Santo Tomás University, the Minuto de Dios University, the Alfonso X University, among others. And among the public higher education institutions are: ESAP, SENA (both in inter-administrative agreement), the Pedagogical University, the University of Cundinamarca and the Colegio de Mayor de Cundinamarca University. In percentages, this is: 65% of the agreements were established with private Higher Education Institutions, and only 34% with Public Higher Education Institutions.

         Un primer análisis de estos datos It allows to demonstrate the overpresence of private institutions with respect to public institutions within the agreements made to put the "University City" project into operation.

       Para ejemplificar mejor los alcances y definiciones presentes a la fecha en el proyecto Ciudad Universitaria we analyzed two of the agreements with private institutions, these being the ones established with the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and the Universidad de La Sabana. An agreement with the following characteristics was established with the Javeriana University: a 12% discount is granted on the tuition fee for the programs offered by the University at the undergraduate and postgraduate level for the inhabitants of the municipality of Funza, and for officials and contractors of the Mayor's Office and their respective secretaries, except at the undergraduate level for Law, Psychology, Medicine and Pharmaceutical Chemistry programs, and at the postgraduate level for doctorates, clinical-surgical specializations and dental specializations. For groups of five or more people who are going to enroll in a postgraduate course, a 20% discount is granted. There are at least 44 undergraduate programs and 121 postgraduate programs offered for the inhabitants of Funza, municipal administration officials and their contractors with this agreement.

       Si al programa de pregrado más barato de esa universidad le aplicáramos el descuento del agreement, in this case the Mathematics program, would go from having a total value (price in 2022) of $5,941,000 to $5,228,080, with a 12% discount that is equivalent to $712,920 pesos, with the total cost of the course of $41,824,640 (eight semesters). If we applied the discount to one of the most expensive undergraduate degrees at this university, such as Engineering, we would obtain the following result: the original value of the Mechatronics Engineering tuition is around $13,565,000, and the discount of 12% applied ( $1,627,800) would cost $11,937,200, with the total cost of the degree being $95,497,600 (eight semesters). Undoubtedly, the discount is an important incentive, but how many young people and inhabitants of Funza would be able to pay it without going into high debt?

       Con la Universidad de La Sabana el escenario es más complejo. The agreement establishes some 25% scholarships (for undergraduate programs) awarded by the university to some students in accordance with the quotas that the university offers each semester for these scholarships. The requirements for access to these places with a 25% discount are as follows: for all the inhabitants of Funza, graduates of public or private schools in the municipality, who demonstrate academic excellence,that duly demonstrate scarcity of economic resources, whose name has been included in the list of people to whom the municipality postulates for educational support, who are admitted to enter the first semester and who are selected by the University of La Sabana in accordance with the requirements established in the regulations student, in the Manual of Scholarships and Economic Aid and prior compliance with the scholarship granting process required by the University. This possible 25% discount applies to 23 undergraduate programs established in the agreement by the university.

       Es decir, el descuento de matrícula de este convenio no es un descuento que apply to all the large number of students graduated from municipal schools who want to enter this university, but it is granted only according to the quotas for the scholarships that the university has available per semester.

      _cc781905-5cde-3194-bb3b-1358Amore than this,for postgraduates, benefits are granted only to public employees or municipal officials, distributed as follows: between 5% to 20% discount depending on the number of employees who are enrolled and enrolled in the list provided by the administration, which can vary between 1 to 11 people or more. They also grant 20% discounts for doctorates and additional discounts depending on the postgraduate programs that the university discriminates against.

       Si al programa de pregrado más barato de esa universidad, dentro del listado que fixed, we will apply the discount of the agreement, in this case the programs of Degree in Early Childhood Education and Degree in Natural Sciences, would go from having a total value (price as of 2022) of $6,910,000 to $5,182,500, with the discount of 25 % which is equivalent to $1,727,500 pesos, with the total cost of the degree being $51,825,000 (ten semesters). If we applied the discount to one of the most expensive undergraduate programs that appears in the list, such as International Economics and Finance, we would obtain the following result: the original value of the tuition is around $14,450,000, and applied the discount of 25 % ($3,612,500) would cost $10,937,500, with the total cost of the degree being $87,500,000 (eight semesters).

       Sólo revisando estos convenios, que son los que le dan contenido y fondo al project "University City", it is notorious that the spirit that promotes the proposals in educational matters of the new National Government is far from being even similar to what the Municipal Administration of Funza is doing. Even if we were to review the agreements made with some public Higher Education Institutions, such as the Universidad Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca, we would realize that the value of the tuition, which in your case does not apply any discount within the agreement, is almost similar to the from a private institution.

       Con el objetivo de abrir esta discusión con la ciudadanía es necesario dejar estas preguntas on the table: What is the interest in showing off the infrastructures without addressing the substantive issues of this Administration's flagship project? Is Mayor Bernal's publicity wink a sample to build bridges of closeness with the incoming presidency, knowing that he will have to dialogue with it for a little over a year? What would Petro and his work team answer if they thoroughly reviewed the project that Bernal shows, addressing these distances that separate one proposal from the other? Why does Mayor Bernal intend to strengthen his "University City" project along the lines of the "Knowledge Society" project when the commitment of the Municipal Administration establishes a kind of market for higher education institutions, the vast majority of which are private? , to which the bulk of the inhabitants could hardly access, and the proposal of the elected National Government establishes progressive access as a right to a higher, university, public, free and quality educational service?

We extend these considerations to our readers. In any case, what an educational project is about is fostering critical apprehensions of social phenomena, of government mechanisms, and of proposals that, seen from their publicity, may seem brilliant and progressive, but that, in reality, in fact they are not. What an educational project is about is teaching its students to break the shell and find their nut, as we have been doing today with this analysis exercise.

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June 23, 2022