Concerns around Peru´s plan to reopen universities by March

Lima, Perú – After almost two years, Peruvian universities are finally planning on returning to in-person classes by March. While shopping malls and restaurants reopened back in 2020, educational institutions remained closed because of the pandemic. 

Juan José Yon, academic secretary at the University of Applied Sciences (UPC), says the pandemic has created an educational crisis. Nationwide, six in every 10 post-secondary students dropped out because of the pandemic. 

“The technological gap between the upper and the working class has made it so that poorer students don´t have reliable access to education,” he said, “and if that wasn’t enough, many of them just couldn´t afford to pay their tuition.”

To Yon, the reopening of universities would help alleviate this emergency by giving students the quality of classes they need. However, universities and governments need to impose COVID-19 preventative protocols. At UPC, faculty, students and staff members have agreed that the return to classes will be partial. 

“We will not return the way we were pre-pandemic, but rather progressively. Some indispensable classes will be held first, and those that can continue being online will remain so. We will be careful; we are prioritizing the health of people,” said Yon. 

 

 

Evelin Coloma, assistant professor of Law at the School of Business and Administration (ESAN), says her institution hasn´t been clear with its plans for March. 

“Although the government has said that universities will be able to open, coordination’s are still happening. I was told that my courses were going to be in person, but then they said that only courses that use laboratories would be permitted,” said Coloma.

Furthermore, she thinks that the conversations between the health minister Hernando Ceballos and the universities´ rectors haven´t led to any solid protocol. 

“I understand that these are uncertain times and that measures change often, but at the very least, we should be able to have a plan of action that involves vaccine mandates, contact tracing and distancing,” she said.

 

 

Coloma is worried about the safety of her students. Recently, one of her students passed away due to COVID-19, and she fears a rushed return to classes will put people at risk. 

“There is a misconception that young people can´t die of COVID, but this is not the case,” she said, “that is why we need to continue being careful.” 

 Even in the face of uncertainty, like students want to go to in-person classes. Valeria Yance, a second-year student at ESAN, has never been to campus before and is excited for next semester. 

“The pandemic took away my chance to attend face-to-face [classes], make friends and engage with my courses,” said Yance, “so yes, I want to go to in-person classes, so long as they implement a functioning protocol.”

 

 

The future of post-secondary education is still unknown. Yance, like many others, urges universities and governmental institutions to enforce vaccine mandates, obligatory masking and other measures to ensure a safe environment. 

“We want to return, but not at the risk of death and crisis,” said Yance.