Students – from universities and polytechnics – and the most representative unions of teachers are on the side of CCISP’s claims, which include changing its name to “Polytechnic Universities“
The vast majority of sectoral actors heard this week at the last parliamentary hearing of the Education and Science Commission were in favor of the future granting of doctorates by the Portuguese polytechnic network, as well as the change of name of the institutes to “Polytechnic Universities”. Among them are a higher education student associations, both from polytechnics and universities, and the most representative trade unions in the sector, present at the session by Fenprof – National Federation of Teachers and SNESup – National Union of Higher Education.
In yet another conference in Parliament designed to analyze the bills on polytechnic higher education in detail, several representatives of the Coordinating Council of Higher Polytechnic Institutes (CCISP) stressed that the focus of the [legislative] initiative is “to allow polytechnics to grow in a sustainable way”; “having a much greater international impact”; “and go looking for other audiences, considering not only the country’s objectives in terms of growth and affirmation of Higher Education, but also recognizing the increased difficulties in the coming years arising from the country’s demographic evolution”, they reinforced on the occasion.
At the top of CCISP’s concerns and sights are the social and economic challenges that the regions, in particular, and Portugal, in general, face. “This whole process is the result of a deep reflection by the polytechnic institutions, which began more than a decade ago”, he underlined, in order to meet what “the companies need” in each of the regions with the implementation of polytechnics.
The final decision on the change could come out of Parliament between late January and early February.
“We don’t want to run away from our mission at all; what we want is to be able to take a bigger step”, including overcoming the “many difficulties” in getting the message across abroad. Because, as was emphasized in the session, “society interprets that the highest level of education is the university, and any ‘noise’ around the term takes away from the system’s readability”. In other words, of course “the name is also a problem”, but only in the sense of bringing “greater legibility” to higher education as a whole, and never calling into question the mission of each of the subsystems.
A deepening of the system in a modern perspective for the country
With the current claim under debate, assured the CCISP, “we are so far from calling into question the current binary system that it is not even worth wasting time discussing it”. For the highest body that coordinates the action of the Portuguese polytechnic network, it is very simple: the polytechnic system has evolved a lot and has come closer to the needs of regions and companies. And if there are “more PhDs producing work in the institutions, we will all be producing more science”. Which is good for the country.
What is being proposed at the moment, it was noted in this last parliamentary hearing, is a “deepening of the system”, and not only polytechnic, “but from a modern perspective”. “We are deployed in our regions to carry out applied research on territorial issues and to solve effective problems, thereby making an indelible contribution to the country’s development in an integrated manner. And with this, we are managing to reverse the demographic loss in many areas of the interior. Because we have scientific capacity. And there is no risk in this progression” of the system, he asserted.
About CCISP:
The Coordinating Council of Higher Polytechnic Institutes is a collegiate body, with various powers, of joint representation of public polytechnic higher education establishments. All public higher polytechnic institutes are part of it, as well as non-integrated higher schools. The universities of the Azores, Algarve, Aveiro, Évora and Madeira also have a seat on the CCISP. In addition to the joint representation of its members, its main competence is to issue opinions and positions on matters related to higher education. It is, therefore, a consultation body of the Ministry responsible for higher education, and is also called upon to take a position with other bodies, such as the Education and Science Commission of the Assembly of the Republic, and to participate in meetings preparations for projects with public and private partners.
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