As part of a series of events held to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of CETYS University, Mariano Jabonero, Secretary of the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), presented the lecture “Education After the Pandemic: Inertia or Transformation.”

Dr. Alberto Gárate-Rivera, Vice-President of Academic Affairs, accompanied by Dr. Fernando León-García, President of the CETYS University System, welcomed the speaker and special guest at the “Jesús Rodríguez Montes Auditorium” of the Mexicali Campus. Hours before in that same building León-García had led the official 60th Anniversary Ceremony.

Dr. Jabonero, from Spain, leads the efforts of the OEI, an organization that promotes cooperation in education, science, culture, and technology in 23 Member States. He is also the author of numerous publications and an international expert on education and Ibero-America, a former collaborator of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and former Director of Education of the Santillana Foundation.

The conference was broadcasted through CETYS University digital media and opened to the community at large. It was an invitation to reflect on how to remain to educate after the forced transformation that the pandemic brought with it, both in the educational field and in the rest of the society’s spheres.

When faced with the unknowns of how to continue to educate students and what educational system or modality will solve the Non-Face-to-Face learning issues, the answers are not yet available. The truth is that millions of students in the world lived through months of confinement that increased the risk of greater gaps in access to education. Yet, at the same time, strategies emerged and were implemented and, by way of trial and error, will continue to be deployed with the aim of moving forward.

“The serious problems and inefficiencies that the pandemic has revealed in the educational systems have raised an urgent topic: the end of the crisis will not be the occasion to return to an unsatisfactory past that we must overcome. Rather we will need to enter into a promising, transformative, and innovative future,” said Jabonero.

He stressed that despite the invaluable losses caused by the pandemic, the fifth wave of globalization of Ibero-American education, research and innovation have triumphed over adversity. The above demonstrates that together they are the higher bet to overcome the crisis.

However, he indicated, internationalization, strengthening of research activity, and trust in distance learning represent three major areas of opportunity in educational practice.

“We will come out of this crisis stronger, safer, but we are not all here; millions have died. We will be more distrustful and living in complicated situations. We have to build this future that I resist calling “the new normal” Who says if it is new or old? Normality is every day. So, we return to the world, but a better world, where our countries overcame their challenges”, concluded the lecturer.

If you wish, you can view the video of the complete lecture here.

The lecture of the Secretary of the OEI was presented in a hybrid format, marking the beginning of a year of celebrations for the six decades of the institution’s existence. 

Learn about the complete program of activities and follow the broadcasts and reviews of the anniversary events at www.cetys.mx/60-aniversario. You can also do it through the social networks of CETYS University.