Taquini Plan
Encyclopedia
The Taquini Plan was a project for the restructuring of higher education in Argentina
proposed by biochemist and academic Dr. Alberto Taquini
in 1968. Implemented in 1970, it resulted in a significant decentralization of the Argentine national university system.
, on November 16—18, 1968, Taquini's program called for an unprecedented expansion in the number of national universities, which at the time totaled only ten. Numerous private universities, as well as public provincial universities existed; but the former were not affordable to the majority of prospective students, and the latter were often ill-equipped and lacked the prestige a national university degree bestowed on the student. Distance and its resulting costs also hampered accessibility to a university education, since (with the exception of the UTN
, which maintained campuses nearly nationwide) the ten existing national universities were distributed among but seven of the nation's 24 districts (22 provinces, a territory, and a federal district). Leading Argentine university leaders in the past, notably La Plata University President Joaquín V. González
and University of Tucumán founder Juan Bautista Terán, had advocated a more decentralized system as early as the 1910s.
's establishment of the UTN's predecessor, the National Worker's University, with scattered campuses, as well as two other national universities; another institution, the National University of Rosario
, had been formed from the Rosario
campus of the National University of the Littoral
just months before the Taquini proposal.
Revisions made to the 1884 Law 1420 of Common Education
by President Pedro Aramburu's Law 6403 of 1955 further diversified higher education by allowing private (mainly parochial
) colleges to issue official degrees directly rather than only through a public university, leading to the establishment of the Argentine Catholic University and other Roman Catholic-sponsored colleges.
University enrollment in Argentina had expanded from 49,000 in 1947 to 238,000 in 1969, and because the national university system absorbed most of this growth (with 200,000 students), decompressing strained public university campuses became a national development
priority. Taquini also addressed development policy needs by proposing that new universities in the least developed provinces (in the north), or in thinly-populated ones (in Patagonia
) focus curricula on fields related to their respective province's most productive (or most potentially productive) economic activities. This proposal was also the most cost-effective in the plan, as many of the new universities would incorporate provincial universities already specializing in degrees related to their provinces' leading natural resource sectors.
Political concerns were at least an important as socio-economic ones in the plan's consideration. The dictatorship installed in 1966 had been repressive of dissent from its earliest days, ordering mass detentions and dismissals of university faculty and intervention against left-wing trade unions
. These policies led to spiraling labor and student unrest, and by 1969, riots such as the Rosariazo
and the Cordobazo
. These incidents bolstered Taquini's call for decentralizing the strained system, and his plan gained support from State Intelligence
, whose reports confirmed that crowded campuses and the long distances from home endured by most university students were contributing to tensions.
, where student upheaval in 1968 led to the University of Paris
' subdivision into 13 autonomous entities in 1970. Officially submitted on May 23, 1970, to the Council of University Rectors as the "Program for the Adjustment of the Argentine University System to the Needs of National Development," Education Minister José Luis Cantini and President Roberto Levingston signed the proposal into law on November 9, 1970. The first new institution established under its auspices, the National University of Río Cuarto
, was founded in May 1971, and Taquini's closest collaborators in the policy's draft, Dr. Sadi Rife and Marcelo Zapiola, were named Rector
s of the first two new universities: Río Cuarto and the National University of Comahue
.
, Córdoba
, La Plata, or Rosario. Ballooning enrollment prompted the enactment of yearly quotas after the March 1976 coup (which caused enrollment in the system to fall by one third), though these were lifted with the election of President Raúl Alfonsín
in 1983. Enrollment doubled to 661,000 by 1989, further straining facilities.
The plan's emphasis on encouraging the pursuit of degrees according to economic and market needs was only partially successful. Degrees in the Humanities
and Social Sciences (including Law
) remained around half of the total, despite accounting for 3% of the labor market demand, while degrees in applied science
s were 30% of the total, while commanding three-fourths of the labor market needs; medical degree
s were balanced at around 20% of degrees and demand. Nor did the plan succeed in curbing high attrition rates, as Taquini believed that shorter distances from students' families might do.
Taquini's broader goals were largely met, however. Total university enrollment, including 50 private institutions and four belonging to the Argentine Armed Forces, reached 1.58 million in 2006, of which the proportion attending the "big four" decreased from 67% in 1968 to 40% in 2006, and the nation's 47 national universities are distributed in every province. The plan's call for increased funding was also met, albeit belatedly: federal budgets for higher education increased steadily after 1985, growing from US$1 billion (in constant 2001 dollars) to over US$4.3 billion in 2008.
A complementary proposal, calling for the creation of a system of national community college
s associated with each one's nearest national university, was proposed by Taquini in 1989, and included as Article 22 of the Higher Education Law signed by President Carlos Menem
in 1994.
Education in Argentina
Education in Argentina is a responsibility shared by the national government, the provinces and federal district and private institutions, though basic guidelines have historically been set by the Ministry of Education...
proposed by biochemist and academic Dr. Alberto Taquini
Alberto Taquini
Alberto Carlos Taquini is an Argentine biochemist and academic whose "Taquini Plan" resulted in the decentralization of Argentina's public university system.-Life and work:...
in 1968. Implemented in 1970, it resulted in a significant decentralization of the Argentine national university system.
Proposal
First proposed in an academic colloquium held at the University of La Plata's mountain retreat, Samay HuasiSamay Huasi
Samay Huasi is a historic property in Argentina functioning as a both a vacation retreat, as well as a museum.-Overview:Located in Chilecito, a town located high in the Pampas Sierras of La Rioja Province, the property originally belonged to William Treloar, a British mining engineer who purchased...
, on November 16—18, 1968, Taquini's program called for an unprecedented expansion in the number of national universities, which at the time totaled only ten. Numerous private universities, as well as public provincial universities existed; but the former were not affordable to the majority of prospective students, and the latter were often ill-equipped and lacked the prestige a national university degree bestowed on the student. Distance and its resulting costs also hampered accessibility to a university education, since (with the exception of the UTN
National Technological University
The National Technological University is a National University of Argentina, specializing in engineering and exact sciences. Hosting over 75,000 students, its student body is comparable to Argentina's third-largest university and exceeded significantly only by the University of Buenos Aires...
, which maintained campuses nearly nationwide) the ten existing national universities were distributed among but seven of the nation's 24 districts (22 provinces, a territory, and a federal district). Leading Argentine university leaders in the past, notably La Plata University President Joaquín V. González
Joaquín V. González
Joaquín Víctor González was an Argentine educator, political scientist, writer, magistrate, and politician.- Early life :...
and University of Tucumán founder Juan Bautista Terán, had advocated a more decentralized system as early as the 1910s.
Background
Some decentralization had been achieved with President Juan PerónJuan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
's establishment of the UTN's predecessor, the National Worker's University, with scattered campuses, as well as two other national universities; another institution, the National University of Rosario
National University of Rosario
The National University of Rosario is a research, educational and public university located in the city of Rosario, province of Santa Fe, Argentina.-Overview:...
, had been formed from the Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
campus of the National University of the Littoral
National University of the Littoral
The National University of the Littoral is a university in Argentina. It is based in Santa Fe, the capital of the province of the same name, and it has colleges and other academic facilities in Esperanza, Reconquista and Gálvez, also in Santa Fe Province.-History:The original institution was...
just months before the Taquini proposal.
Revisions made to the 1884 Law 1420 of Common Education
Argentine Law 1420
The Law 1420 of General Common Education of Argentina was a landmark national law that dictated public compulsory, free and secular education. It was passed in 1884 during the administration of President Julio Argentino Roca, after a number of similar laws of provincial scope and the conclusions of...
by President Pedro Aramburu's Law 6403 of 1955 further diversified higher education by allowing private (mainly parochial
Catholic University
A Catholic University is a private university run by the Catholic Church or by Catholic organizations like religious institutes. Those with closer ties to the Holy See are called pontifical universities....
) colleges to issue official degrees directly rather than only through a public university, leading to the establishment of the Argentine Catholic University and other Roman Catholic-sponsored colleges.
University enrollment in Argentina had expanded from 49,000 in 1947 to 238,000 in 1969, and because the national university system absorbed most of this growth (with 200,000 students), decompressing strained public university campuses became a national development
Developmentalism
Developmentalism is an economic theory which states that the best way for Third World countries to develop is through fostering a strong and varied internal market and to impose high tariffs on imported goods....
priority. Taquini also addressed development policy needs by proposing that new universities in the least developed provinces (in the north), or in thinly-populated ones (in Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
) focus curricula on fields related to their respective province's most productive (or most potentially productive) economic activities. This proposal was also the most cost-effective in the plan, as many of the new universities would incorporate provincial universities already specializing in degrees related to their provinces' leading natural resource sectors.
Political concerns were at least an important as socio-economic ones in the plan's consideration. The dictatorship installed in 1966 had been repressive of dissent from its earliest days, ordering mass detentions and dismissals of university faculty and intervention against left-wing trade unions
Raimundo Ongaro
Raimundo Ongaro is a prominent Argentine labor leader.-Early career and rise to prominence:Raimundo José Ongaro was born to a middle-class family of Italian Argentines from the Lombardy region, in the Argentine seashore city of Mar del Plata in 1924...
. These policies led to spiraling labor and student unrest, and by 1969, riots such as the Rosariazo
Rosariazo
The Rosariazo was a protest movement that consisted in demonstrations and strikes, in Rosario, , between May and September 1969, during the military dictatorial rule of de facto President General Juan Carlos Onganía...
and the Cordobazo
Cordobazo
The Cordobazo was a civil uprising in the city of Córdoba, Argentina, in the end of May 1969, during the military dictatorship of General Juan Carlos Onganía, which occurred a few days after the Rosariazo, and a year after the French May '68...
. These incidents bolstered Taquini's call for decentralizing the strained system, and his plan gained support from State Intelligence
Side
Side was an ancient Greek city in Anatolia, in the region of Pamphylia, in what is now Antalya province, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey...
, whose reports confirmed that crowded campuses and the long distances from home endured by most university students were contributing to tensions.
Implementation
Taquini's proposal was endorsed by the National Research Council, CONICET. It was further advanced by developments in FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, where student upheaval in 1968 led to the University of Paris
University of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
' subdivision into 13 autonomous entities in 1970. Officially submitted on May 23, 1970, to the Council of University Rectors as the "Program for the Adjustment of the Argentine University System to the Needs of National Development," Education Minister José Luis Cantini and President Roberto Levingston signed the proposal into law on November 9, 1970. The first new institution established under its auspices, the National University of Río Cuarto
National University of Río Cuarto
The National University of Río Cuarto is an Argentine national university, situated in the city of Río Cuarto, Córdoba. It currently has over 20,000 regular students, 1,500 teaching staff, 5 faculties and 42 available degrees.-See also:**...
, was founded in May 1971, and Taquini's closest collaborators in the policy's draft, Dr. Sadi Rife and Marcelo Zapiola, were named Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
s of the first two new universities: Río Cuarto and the National University of Comahue
National University of Comahue
The National University of Comahue is an Argentine national university with branches in the provinces of Neuquén, Río Negro and Chubut, with a center in the city of Neuquén and units in Viedma, Bariloche, San Martín de los Andes, Cipolletti, Zapala, Allen, Río Negro, General Roca, Río Negro,...
.
Results
The number of national universities expanded from 10 to 23 by 1973 (and to 47 by 2010). The system's enrollment continued to rise, as well, growing from 202,000 in 1970 (85% of the total) to 481,000 in 1975 (90% of the total). The Taquini Plan failed to geographically diversify enrollment as quickly as it did the system itself, however, since the new universities generally remained less prestigious than the older establishments. The system's total enrollment reached 1,283,000 in 2006, of which 49% were enrolled in the universities of Buenos AiresUniversity of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
, Córdoba
University of Cordoba
The term University of Córdoba or Cordoba could refer to the following:* Cordoba University * National University of Córdoba * University of Cordoba * University of Córdoba...
, La Plata, or Rosario. Ballooning enrollment prompted the enactment of yearly quotas after the March 1976 coup (which caused enrollment in the system to fall by one third), though these were lifted with the election of President Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Alfonsín
Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín was an Argentine lawyer, politician and statesman, who served as the President of Argentina from December 10, 1983, to July 8, 1989. Alfonsín was the first democratically-elected president of Argentina following the military government known as the National Reorganization...
in 1983. Enrollment doubled to 661,000 by 1989, further straining facilities.
The plan's emphasis on encouraging the pursuit of degrees according to economic and market needs was only partially successful. Degrees in the Humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
and Social Sciences (including Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
) remained around half of the total, despite accounting for 3% of the labor market demand, while degrees in applied science
Applied science
Applied science is the application of scientific knowledge transferred into a physical environment. Examples include testing a theoretical model through the use of formal science or solving a practical problem through the use of natural science....
s were 30% of the total, while commanding three-fourths of the labor market needs; medical degree
Medical degree
A medical degree is, broadly defined, any academic degree which places its holder in a position to engage in the practice of medicine. BBC has reported that Medicine related degree programs such as MBBS, BDS and PharmD are the most difficult degree programs of all the other Bachelor degree programs...
s were balanced at around 20% of degrees and demand. Nor did the plan succeed in curbing high attrition rates, as Taquini believed that shorter distances from students' families might do.
Taquini's broader goals were largely met, however. Total university enrollment, including 50 private institutions and four belonging to the Argentine Armed Forces, reached 1.58 million in 2006, of which the proportion attending the "big four" decreased from 67% in 1968 to 40% in 2006, and the nation's 47 national universities are distributed in every province. The plan's call for increased funding was also met, albeit belatedly: federal budgets for higher education increased steadily after 1985, growing from US$1 billion (in constant 2001 dollars) to over US$4.3 billion in 2008.
A complementary proposal, calling for the creation of a system of national community college
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
s associated with each one's nearest national university, was proposed by Taquini in 1989, and included as Article 22 of the Higher Education Law signed by President Carlos Menem
Carlos Menem
Carlos Saúl Menem is an Argentine politician who was President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. He is currently an Argentine National Senator for La Rioja Province.-Early life:...
in 1994.