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NEW PROTAGONISTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN ECUADOR: BASELINE OF CHANGES IN THE GUARANTEE OF THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION

Abstract:

Quality education is vital for human development and securing human rights. Based on the Ecuadorian Constitution, adopted in 2008, the right to education up to the tertiary level at no cost to students in the public system was stipulated and the current system of quality assurance in higher education applies. This system evaluated universities in the years 2013 and 2019. The objective of the present study is to identify the changes in the exercise of the substantive functions of Ecuadorian universities in this period and which institutions present the most improvements. To do this, absolute and relative changes in six higher education criteria in the period 2013-2019 were analysed: number of students, number of graduates, total number of tea-chers, and particularly with Ph.Ds., and published research in global and regional journals. The results point out that since 2013 universities in Ecuador have made great improvements in their quality-related capacities, but not as much in opening access. There is a rapid increase in the number of university educators, particularly with Ph.D. titles and research capacities. Also, public universities, many of them considered “peripheral,” are the ones to most grow in access and quality, thereby delineating an emerging new set of higher education protagonists in the guarantee of the rights related to higher education in this Latin American nation since the application of the current system of quality evaluation.