Undergraduate courses from public higher education institutions in Mercosur countries and associated members of the bloc who wish to adhere to the Regional Accreditation System for Undergraduate Courses and Member States of Mercosur and Associated States (Arcu-Sul System) will have their quality evaluated by Brazil, in 2023.
Course evaluation processes had been suspended since 2015 in the country.
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The resumption is part of the second cycle of evaluations in Brazil, in the Arcu–Sul system, and was announced this Wednesday morning (15), in a live by the National Institute of Educational Studies and Research Anísio Teixeira (Inep), responsible for the country for the evaluations and opinions on the courses that enroll in Arcu–Sul.
The general coordinator of Inep’s Evaluation, Rogério Dentello, said that the evaluation contributes to the permanent improvement of academic training and integration in the region. “Starting this year, we, here at Inep, will work very hard to make up for lost time, because Arcu-Sul has brought many benefits not only to accredited courses, but to Inep itself. We say that it effectively contributed to the social development of the region. Therefore, Arcu-Sul needs to be strengthened”, said Dentello.
Arc–Sul system
The Arcu-Sul System is managed by the Network of National Accreditation Agencies (Rana), which follows specific criteria in each country. In Brazil, the activity is regulated by ordinance of the Ministry of Education.
The courses that participate in the Arcu-Sul System are Agronomy, Architecture, Nursing, Engineering, Veterinary Medicine, Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Geology and Economics. The inclusion of new courses depends on the decision of the Ministers of Education of the respective countries participating in the system.
The countries that mutually recognize the academic quality of the courses are Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Currently, 519 courses are accredited by the Arcu-Sul System, 90 of which are from Brazil; 115 from Argentina; 22 from Paraguay; 31 from Uruguay; 141 from Bolivia; 25 from Chile; 79 from Colombia and 16 from Venezuela. The validity of each accreditation is 6 years, which can be extended for another 3 years. The accreditation process is continuous, with periodic calls. In Brazil, the next one is scheduled for April this year. And the result with the accredited courses should come out by February 2024, according to the Inep schedule.
In order to carry out the analysis of the courses, Arcu-Sul has evaluators trained by the Banco Internacional de Pares Evaliadores (Bipe). There are around 1,000 experts registered on the platform. According to Rogério Dentello, training for Brazilian evaluators will begin next month.
For further information on the Arcu-Sul System, visit the site do sistema.