EDO creates an observatory for equity in Latin American universities

The ORACLE project, funded by the European Commission's Erasmus+ Capacity Building programme, is coordinated by Joaquín Gairín, Director of the DO Team, and by Diego Castro, lecturer of the Department of Applied Pedagogy.

16/03/2017

The UAB has obtained funding for the development of the Regional Observatory for the Quality and Equity of Higher Education in Latin America (ORACLE - Observatorio Regional de Calidad y Equidad de la Educación Superior en Latinoamérica), whose final aim is to propose actions oriented towards the improvement of university quality and equity. It is coordinated by Joaquín Gairín, Director of the DO Team and Dean of the Faculty of Education; and Diego Castro, lecturer of the UAB Department of Applied Pedagogy. The project includes a total of 994,190 Euros in funding from the Erasmus+ Capacity Building programme of the European Union.

Indigenous people, women, the disabled, irregular students, populations with a very low human development index, migrants, ethnic minorities and citizens from rural areas are the eight vulnerable groups the observatory will focus on. The observatory will also work with teaching staff, students and administration and management staff.

The initiative is based on the hypothesis that it is impossible to reach high levels of quality without taking into consideration the principle of equity. Therefore, the observatory will work with the results of four previous projects funded by the ALFA III programme in which members of the observatory participated: ACCEDES, EQUALITY, ALFAGUIA and MISEAL, projects focusing on issues such as social inclusion, female leadership, academic success of vulnerable groups and school abandonment.

The project will include the participation of over 160 researchers from 35 universities, belonging to 15 Latin American and 5 European countries. In order for the Observatory to work correctly, each Latin American university will have a Quality and Equity Unit which will be in charge of proposing and designing actions and policies aimed at guaranteeing equity. The creation of these new structures will foster the organisational development of higher education institutions in the region and constitute the germ of ORACLE.

From 8 to 10 March the first meeting to formally launch ORACLE took place in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The meeting, organised by the Sao Paolo State University (UNESP) in collaboration with the DO Team, focused on subjects related to the internal management of the project and the preparation of international observatories.

More information: ORACLE website