Academic Associations demand the Minister to involve them in the revision of the RJIES

Ministry created a commission to evaluate the application of the Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions without the knowledge of students

Students at UAlg (Archive)

The Academic Association of the University of Algarve (AAUAlg) is one of the 11 student structures that signed an open letter sent to Elvira Fortunato, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, contesting the creation of an independent commission to assess the application of the Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions (RJIES) without the knowledge of student representatives and demanding to be involved in the process.

The nine Academic Associations and the two Federations, «structures that represent hundreds of thousands of students», say they were taken by surprise by the way in which they found out about the creation of the Commission, referring that «they do not see themselves in the selection process, nor in the lack of transparency that it entails" and who were aware of the commission's creation, like "any other citizen of the Portuguese State", when the order was made public.

This despite the fact that the request for revision by the RJIES, whose law dates back to 2007, is “an old demand from the student movement”. After 16 years, through the Dispatch published on January 16, the government created a Commission to evaluate the application of the Law, which led to the writing of an open letter addressed to the minister by eleven student structures, according to AAUAlg.

Through the letter, signatories not only express their dissatisfaction but also call for the «execution of a process of creating a new commission» with the «guarantee of sounding out and consulting the representatives of students and Higher Education Institutions» through the Council of Rectors of the Portuguese Universities and the Coordinating Council of Higher Polytechnic Institutes, calling for more institutions to represent students on the committee and for them to be selected in a transparent manner.

The document is signed by the Academic Association of Coimbra, the Academic Association of the University of Algarve, the Academic Association of the University of Aveiro, the Academic Association of the University of Beira Interior, the Academic Association of the University of Évora, the Academic Association of the University of Minho, the Academic Association of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, the Academic Association of the University of Madeira, the Academic Federation of Lisbon and the National Federation of Polytechnic Higher Education Student Associations.

 

Open letter in full:

Open Letter from the National Student Movement to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education on Dispatch n.º 764/2023 which constitutes an independent commission with the objective of evaluating the application of the Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions

Your Excellency Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Professor Elvira Fortunato,
Your Excellency the Secretary of State for Higher Education, Professor Pedro Nuno Teixeira,

The Legal Regime of Higher Education Institutions (RJIES), established by Law n.º 62/2007, is an absolutely structuring document in the life of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), regulating all their functioning and with a direct impact on the life of the higher education academic community in Portugal, namely hundreds of thousands of students.

This document, in its article 185, defines the mandatory evaluation of its application five years after its entry into force. This means that, since 2012, the successive governments of the different legislatures, despite the constant demands of the national student movement, have opted for the continuous non-compliance with the law, not out of ignorance, but, astonishingly, out of political choice, breaking with the most elementary principle of a democratic rule of law: the law exists to be fulfilled.

At the end of 2022, that is, precisely one decade after the deadline defined by law for evaluating the application of the RJIES, the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES), announced, in statements to the media, the start of “a public and participatory evaluation process of the RJIES, driven by an evaluation commission independent of the Government and political forces”.

Last Monday, January 16, 2022, to the amazement of the national student movement, MCTES Dispatch No.
In view of these facts, the federations and academic associations that are signatories to this letter, hereby expose the following facts:

a) At no time was the national student movement heard by the MCTES regarding the constitution of this commission, having only obtained knowledge of its terms through Dispatch n.º 764/2023. This fact calls into question the commitment announced by the Minister that this would be a public and participatory process;

b) All the members of this independent commission were chosen by the MCTES, contrary to the principle of independence from the Government so proclaimed by the Minister and ending with a usual practice of successive legislatures, where, respecting the autonomy and independence of students, the student movement was invited to indicate the members of the working groups, commissions or bodies to support the Government's activity constituted by the guardianship of Higher Education.

In this way, in view of these facts and given the importance that the revision of a document of this nature represents, the federations and academic associations that are signatories to this letter, hereby demand the revocation of Dispatch n.º 764/2023 and the opening of a truly public process, independent from the Government and participated, with the creation of an independent commission made up of elements indicated by the representative structures of the Higher Education sector, namely the national student movement, the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities, the Coordinating Council of Institutes Superior Polytechnics and the Portuguese Association of Private Higher Education.

Only with the proper representation of the different representative entities of the Higher Education System in this commission can there be a truly independent, participatory review of the Government, where a fair, democratic, universal and quality Higher Education is thought of. It seems to us that the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education will understand that “an independent commission from the Government”, as announced by the Minister, cannot be chosen by the Government itself.

Without further ado, we await your response.

Coimbra Academic Association,
Academic Association of the University of the Azores,
Academic Association of the University of Algarve,
Academic Association of the University of Aveiro,
Academic Association of the University of Beira Interior,
Academic Association of the University of Évora,
Academic Association of the University of Minho,
Academic Association of the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro,
Academic Association of the University of Madeira,
Academic Federation of Lisbon
National Federation of Polytechnic Higher Education Students' Associations

 

 



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