06/10/2014
Guillermo Hirschfeld, coordinator for Latin America Programs, FAES Foundation.
Last February, Rebecca Grynspan was appointed Secretary-General of the twenty-two countries of the Ibero-American Community of Nations (SEGIB). This summer, Grynspan, from Costa Rica, proposed the creation of a comprehensive program of mobility grants for teachers and students for Spain, Portugal and Latin America, modelled on the Erasmus scholarship which has been running in the EU for years.
We are very enthusiastic about this proposal since I drew up a document with a proposal at the beginning of 2009 which focused, precisely, on the idea of replicating the European scholarship program, an integration experience of teachers and students that works very well in Europe, in Latin America. This was summarised in the FAES Paper No. 88 titled "An Erasmus for Latin America" (in Spanish).
The Erasmus program was born over twenty years ago. It is a cooperation program between the universities of European countries. It aims to promote and facilitate the exchange of students and teachers at university level. More than a million students have enjoyed the Erasmus program. Comprising more than thirty countries, it is the world's most important initiative with regard to academic exchange. The Erasmus program goes far beyond the mere acquisition of knowledge because much of its success lies in the development of interpersonal relationships among students of different nationalities, besides helping to break myths, prejudices and stereotypes.
It is a tool of integration which shares a space of common values. Unfortunately, Latin America does not yet have a program like this one. Considering the close similarities between the countries of this community, it is quite surprising that no program of this nature exists.
Universities have been present in Hispanic America since the 16th century, and in some of these countries, full enrolment of compulsory education was reached earlier than in most European Nations. The richness of this tradition is one more reason to invest in a program like the Erasmus one in Latin America.
Furthermore, the potential of the region today is huge: two out of three college students in Latin America are the first generation to enter higher education in their families. This portrays the inception of a phenomenon where part of the population is accessing the middle classes and higher education and which should be used to combat inequalities in the region. Also noteworthy is the revolution represented by the fact that university students only numbered 300,000 in 1950, while currently, over 15 million students are enrolled in higher education.
Hopefully, such proposals, which include mobility of talent and knowledge transfer, could be included in the agenda of the upcoming Latin American Summit. To do this, this initiative should be presented for its approval at the XXIV Latin American Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held on December 8 and 9 in the Mexican city of Veracruz. It is very good news that the Ibero-American General Secretariat has undertaken such a necessary, ambitious and suggestive project as this mobility program for students, teachers, researchers, interns, and internships and work practises for the Latin American community of nations.