"To build something positive, you will have the Popular Party by your side, but to punish the University as it is doing, do not count on us"
The spokesman for Universities of the Popular Parliamentary Group and senator for Galicia, Jesús Vázquez Abad, during the appearance of Minister Castells in the Commission for Science, Innovation and Universities of the Upper House, has told him emphatically, “put your batteries in and do something by the Spanish university system ”.
"To build something positive, you will have the Popular Party at your side, but to punish the University as it is doing, do not count on us," said Vázquez Abad, while reproaching him for "his detachment from the University and his love for bizarre statements, what a disservice they do him ”.
This is how the popular spokesman has pronounced during the appearance of the Minister of Universities, Manuel Castells, in the Senate, to report on the actions carried out by the Ministry for the start of the 2010/2021 university course, as well as the steps taken before the pandemic.
Vázquez Abad has demanded "dialogue" from the minister, although he has accused him of not calling the parties to discuss the issues that affect the University. “Yours, Minister, is not dialogue; his thing is the monologue ”, despite the“ discomfort and uncertainty that exists between the teachers and the students at the moment ”, he pointed out.
“We need dialogue, debate and consensus, not theorize. Its contradictions are many and constant, they are not the ideal breeding ground to generate stability in the university community ”, he remarked. For this reason, he has asked Minister Castells to "open channels of real dialogue" with all the Universities and to "listen" to the university community.
PUBLIC AND PRESENTIAL UNIVERSITY
In addition, the spokesperson for PP Universities has stressed that the Spanish university model is not online. "The Spanish University, Mr. Minister, is public, face-to-face and accessible to all, and your examples from Cambridge or Berkeley are alien to the Spanish university system."
In the same way, Vázquez Abad has listed the problems of the Spanish University, such as the need to have a new legal and regulatory framework; the stability of the teaching staff; have reasonable, safe and feasible careers; reward the effort of teachers; and renew the templates.
At another point in his speech, the popular senator asked Castells for his opinion about the possibility of accessing the teaching profession without the mandatory master's degree: “Is it okay for you that teachers can do so without any specialization ?; What is your opinion of the Royal Decree on educational matters approved on September 29 ?; Do you think it is good that the evaluation, promotion and qualification criteria are modified, that the model for hiring the teaching staff is modified against the experts?
Finally, Jesús Vázquez Abad has described the resources available to the University as "scarce" and has called on Castells to establish credible and objectively qualified funds. "We need funds so that teachers can exercise their right to progress in the university career and to facilitate research," he concluded.
