Uruguayan educators protest new teacher certification plan

Teachers and students at Teacher Training Institutes (IFD) in Fray Bentos and Durazno are protesting a new certification plan approved by CODICEN of ANEP. The plan, known as the ‘Plan de Egreso y Titulación para docentes en ejercicio de Educación Media’, allows university professionals with over eight years of experience in secondary education to obtain teaching titles through accreditation of knowledge or by completing pending subjects.

Faculty members at the Fray Bentos IFD argue that professional expertise in a specific discipline is not equivalent to pedagogical training. They expressed concern that the resolution was adopted arbitrarily without consensus and warned that reducing requirements could undermine the professional standards of the teaching career. They maintain that while experience is valuable, it must be validated through rigorous accreditation processes rather than being used as a substitute for formal training.

Similarly, students in Durazno appeared before the local Departmental Board to reject the plan. They argued that the shortage of qualified teachers should be addressed by improving conditions for training rather than lowering academic standards. The students emphasized that the public education system requires both a sufficient number of teachers and high-quality training, stating, ‘We do not have to choose between quantity and training; we have to guarantee both.’