Andrés Quishpe: University and pandemic | Columnists | Opinion

March 22, 2021 – 00h05

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Before the pandemic, several educational institutions in the US eliminated the Academic Aptitude Test, SAT, or the American College Test, ACT. Due to the pandemic, more universities joined the decision to eliminate these admission requirements; The purpose was to attract a student body from minority and low-income sectors that cannot cover the expenses or requirements that this type of evaluation implies. There are 1,686 institutions that have put aside these tests, including universities such as Cornell and Harvard. It is necessary to contextualize that since 2007 all community colleges and universities in the United States required the results of these tests. I note that these measures do not necessarily imply that the US has democratized its college admissions system. However, it is necessary to recognize that standardized tests are in the eye of the storm in the country that created them and that is beginning to flee from them.

In France, the end of high school exams were canceled for the first time in the history of that country. Giving way to the average grade for each subject. These changes developed in connection with the pandemic allowed us to achieve new results, reflected in a higher approval rate than previous years, forcing French universities to create 10,000 additional places for various careers.

There are also those countries that decided to maintain their standardized university admissions assessments amid COVID-19, especially in Asia; This decision was accompanied by several policies that we are not going to address for now. In the case of our country, the Examination of Access to Higher Education (EAES). It is scheduled for this March 24, it will be developed 100% online and, in addition, it will have certain face-to-face venues to serve approximately 12,190 young people. The authorities of the Senescyt have directed their efforts mainly to avoid copying, they published an agenda on their official channels. But nothing has been said about the reality of every 10 students 6 have learning problems, according to UNESCO, or the digital divide and its impact on the teaching-learning process in high school, or the lack of places – According to the Senescyt, for the year 2019, 311,654 people requested a quota to access higher education while the system offered 178,846; that is, 4 out of 10 people were left out of higher education.

It is a pity that during the confinement the technocracy that left the Correismo and that still runs higher education continues to promote an evaluation oriented to classification and elitization; where statistical views prevail for accountability, leaving aside comprehensive educational views that, incidentally, are affected by the budget cut to the Academy. COVID-19 changed everything and education is no exception, it is time to diversify the mechanisms and assessment instruments, we cannot continue to see standardized tests as the only way in the midst of all the problems that humanity is experiencing. (OR)

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