UES Supreme Council refrains from knowing the controversy in the humanities

The University of El Salvador’s (UES) Supreme University Council refused to learn of the dispute that prevented 8,500 students from the Faculty of Sciences and Humanities from starting classes for the second session this year, three sources from the organization confirmed.

A member of the CSU on Thursday, March 11, requested that the college board’s internal conflict be included in the agenda that no agreement was reached by approving class schedules, an earlier move for students to score subjects, due to differences in the appointment of teachers.

A member of the CSU, who requested anonymity, stated that the necessary 20 votes were not reached to include the issue on the agenda of the organization, which the UES itself described as its highest entity in the administrative, teaching, technical and disciplinary function. He explained, “There was complete silence. We tried to agree to it and got only 17 votes. We lost three to make it an agenda item. Only the majority of professors and some deans supported it.”

He added that it was possible that 20 votes had not been achieved because the teaching sector “feared” the student backlash movement whose representatives on the board refused to vote to approve class schedules, arguing that leadership academics from college departments and schools suggested hiring teachers for “personal whims” and Favoritism. Other sources from the board told LA PRENSA GRÁFICA this week that students want to hire professors associated with their movement.

This newspaper consulted with Vice Academic Counsel, Raul Azconaga, Vice Administrative Counsel, Juan Rosa Quintanilla, and other members of CSU, as to why the item on the agenda was not approved. Azconaga argued that the CSU refused because “there was no written proposal and the oral motion was put to a vote to be placed on the agenda so that the body could issue a statement on a point not officially known.” He added that the college authorities were “making efforts to resolve the situation.”

Rosa Quintanilla emphasized that the college’s board of directors is responsible for resolving issues related to students’ academic load and the schedules in which teachers will teach classes. In addition, the college is independent.

“It’s a faculty-level situation that they haven’t been able to resolve, and they’re certainly on the verge of being able to make the agreement in question, and the University High Council can’t figure out the point until there is an unfavorable decision that comes through,” Rose’s resource explained.

A representative of the CSU teaching sector, Vicente Cuchillas, said on his Facebook that the petition meant that the board “has declared itself because the problem does not have much time, because we are at the beginning of the cycle” and added that “what the board had to do was support Legal procedures that make due process possible and advocate for a solution.”

On August 8, classes began in all UES faculties, except for the Sciences and Humanities.