By Napoleón Velástegui Bahamonde, University of Guayaquil

Universities in Ecuador are facing growing pressure to do some kind of “historical and social audit” of the State’s huge investments in higher education.  It is hoped that such focused research will reduce the degradation of universities and quickly translate the resources invested into tangible results that enhance public and private sectors, local and national, modernizing the market itself to make it sustainable and competitive in ways that help to improve social welfare. This entails the urgent development of new State policies that fund, by constitutional mandate, the creation of multiple internal and external mechanisms such as technology parks[1] with their global connectivity.  These mechanisms would not only enhance productivity and competitiveness but also help improve peoples’ quality of life.

Society’s current demands, increasingly conscious of public rights and obligations, can only be resolved through real responses based in scientific research, technological innovation, and entrepreneurship.  These responses rely on a strong sense of nationhood, including a new relationship between State, businesses, society, science and technology.  They make it possible to simultaneously protect natural resources and create a new financial order to address massive social inequalities and the lack of public services.This will facilitate new programs in both old and new universities, contributing to their effort to obtain international accreditation and fulfill their strategic role in the country.  …READ MORE