Ignacio Restrepo Abondano

Few and scant are the news the public opinion knows about the reform to the Higher Education.

After the student street movement two years ago, when President Santos -against all his previous words in that respect, asked to withdraw the project that was been debated in the Congress then, the reform itself entered the silence tunnel.

It is true that the Minister of Education makes sporadic appearances of financial type, offering contributions here and there to satisfy partial needs of the official universities: but something concrete about the reform has not been divulged sufficiently. However, a few days ago, lost among the other news, we knew that the National Wide Student Commission has been "consolidating" for more than one year, a reform project that pretends to discuss directly with the National Government; and that, in mid March, a new student mobilization will be developed "as prelude to this process": In other words, the background of the conversations with the national government will consist of other "tour de force", such as those to frighten the government in the eve of withdrawing the project from the Congress.

The students, after the supposed conversations with the National Government "and other interested sectors", are proposing to take to the Congress the project for its approval. We can ask ourselves: when the said term will be reached?

On the other hand, the Minister of Education claims to be building and new State policy for Higher Education, based on a wide participation of directors, students and faculty: what a task the Minister has set herself! Especially if, as she affirms, "there are 29 research projects about this affair"

Let's see if coincidences present between the Higher Education public policy and the reform project elaborated by the National Wide Student Commission.

All these circumstances make us to think that in the course of this year, it will be difficult its arrival to the Congress, of a legislative bill agreed by consensus between the Government and the students, and that there is an imminent risk that, confined in two electoral years (2013-2014), a new Higher Education legal frame will not be reached in the passing of the present administration. In the meanwhile, we will continue under the parameters of a law in force for 20 years.