Caring Your-Future at the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional

It is with an educational vitality, an ethical conviction and a political commitment that I accept the position of Rector of the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional with the promise to take care of Your-Future. Our University serves as a cornerstone for the use of reason and emotion through a variety of strategies, opportunities, and ways of expression. It has always been a place where the expansion and recognition of knowledge can go beyond pragmatic uses to the defense of intellectual autonomy, whose goal is up to the University.

As a tribute to Master Zuleta, we can say that the quest for democracy is inherent in public universities, where knowledge is used to serve social needs and the exercise of citizenship. Moreover, public universities ensure that justice and fairness govern members’ interactions. Public universities create what we call an “academic community” through the free use of reason and emotion, the dialectical union of theory and practice, argumentation, care, and autonomous self-regulation. There is therefore no room for blind disobedience to tradition, and even less for subordination to colonizing interests.

In this context, shaped by a series of insights, struggles, experiences and trajectories of those who believe in the power of public universities, particularly the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional, our commitment is guided by its defense through a philosophy of good living. We use epistemic approaches that strengthen the South-South relations, the dialogue, a deepening of democracy, the solidarity and co-responsibility of the educational community in the development of pedagogical and didactic proposals aimed to the right to education.

To strengthen our University community, we will work to build a university governance based on collective decisions and absolute respect for rights, highlighting the initiatives of professors, students, graduates, workers, administrative staff, and governing bodies, i.e. Departmental , Faculty, Academic, and Higher Councils.

We talk about Your-Future because we know that without public universities, critical thinking in society would be weakened because it transcends sectarian or business interests. Caring for the future of UPN is a new ethical commitment for us as a country, so we will promote ways to dialogue with the district, regional and national governments as well as the foreign community to work together in programs according to a university governance project that focuses on life and a full fulfillment of the right to education with justice and good living.

We consider public education to be a fundamental right and a common good, therefore funding and university autonomy are crucial to ensure the implementation of a training project for teachers and professionals in education and pedagogy, so that they can be coordinated with regions and conflict areas to disseminate educational proposals for peace, interculturality, human rights, collective memory, environmental policies and science, among others.

We firmly believe that respect for freedoms, the consolidation of democracy, the collective meaning of the university ethos and the promotion of social justice are essential principles for the protection of dignity. In addition, we include as a pedagogical criterion of action a genuine acceptance of the diversity of world views and educational concepts within inter- and intra-generational groups. We expect them to be strong in the care of the emotional and educational bonds that can contribute to the future of our University.