Minedu: Controversy surrounding Minister Oscar Becerra’s claims of “unnecessary” consultations

Last Monday the Minister of Education, Oscar Becerrapointed out that Mineduspent between 2012 and 2022 728 million salts for consulting services. In addition, the Minister indicated that several such consultations had been held in Suneda.

“Some of these consultants have 1 or 2 page reports in a month, the same provider bills 6, 8, 10 times, or an organization associated with it, or a relative of someone who is often a former authority, a former minister , former Vice President. minister, ex-congressman (…) 728 million soles is almost as much as a very complex hospital costs, ”he emphasized in an interview in channel number

“Sunedu it was political party petty money through consultations. We just saw S/728 million I don’t know how many consultations there will be in Sunedu. It will see controlbut we are tired of these revolving doors,” he added.

Owner Minedu He indicated that these consultations, which, according to him, are “decorative”, will end, so he will “insert scissors in them.”

Considering these statements, the third vice-president of the parliament, Alejandro Munantepresented yesterday, on Wednesday, a motion asking for the creation of “Multi-Party Commission of Inquiry” investigate “alleged breaches” in those contracts.

” Commission of Inquiry The established must (…) collect all the necessary information that serves to determine the political and administrative responsibility, as well as the civil and criminal liability of all persons and public and private institutions involved in illegal activities,” the petition states.

The specified commission will have a period 180 days “from its installation” to the execution of the assigned work. However, the Education Minister’s complaint was not without criticism due to alleged inaccuracies in his statements.

On the other side, RPP news managed to make sure that according to the list of public auctions Mineduthe sector called for the employment of 6 advisory services during the reign of Minister Oscar Becerra, which began on 21 December.

These consultations were convened between 6 and 20 February by the Deputy Ministry of Educational Administration. Only on February 15, a call was made to 3 of these services.

“The information from the minister is not very accurate”

Jose Luis Gargurevichformer Vice Minister of Institutional Management Mineduin dialogue with RPP News, He believes that the information provided by the education minister was “not careful enough” because, according to him, not everything included in the over 700 million soles mentioned would be advisory services.

“If you look at the information provided by the minister, it is incorrect. Of this SGD 728 million, less than 20% it’s really research commissioned (to consulting firms) for 10 years, according to the calculation he made,” he said.

In this sense, Gargurevich He stressed that the head of Minedu would “gather” several other services, such as consultations, when they would not.

“This amount, when we studied it, if you look at public information, you will find student census estimates, teacher estimates (…) estimates at the national level that they should be made (…) there is no way mingle other items that are teacher training programs, student census estimates,” he said.

In turn, he emphasized that the work of those who carry out consultations contributes to the decision-making of the authorities regarding the public policy that needs to be implemented.

“The consultant is an expert who, with the help of data, with knowledge, creates evidence for the decision-making body. This should be the only paragraph that explains the consultations (…) There is a basic staff in the ministry who specializes, but does not specialize in all subjects. If I want to run a national communication campaign, I hire a media agency, which is counseling”, he pointed out.

On the other hand, he believed that if there was anything to be investigated, it must be the reason why the results of the consultations were not implemented.

“Often the general directorate of a ministry can get joint funding for research and wants to explore how to create a new service model, and in the process of this there can be a change of power (…) A new director comes in, a new minister comes in and says: “I didn’t hire this consultancy company, it’s in a box, and let’s look at something else,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there is a tradition in the state: “I did not instruct, therefore I am not going to.” There is no institutional reputation to take care of, here you need to take care of the institutions. Minedu You must have a lot of knowledge that you don’t apply. If something needs to be done for investigation and oversight, you should look at consultations, but not stop doing them, but use them, ”he added.

“Suneda has not consulted for the last 5 years”

With regard to Minister Oscar Becerra’s allusion to the consultations held in Suneduthe organization’s current superintendent Oswaldo Zegarra in an interview channel Nindicated that no service of this type had been provided in Sunedu over the past 5 years.

“Congressmen and presidents of the Congressional Education Commission have repeatedly asked us how many consultations Suneda has had: zero consultations in the past five years, zero consultations. But this delusion it happens all the time,” he said.

Regarding what the minister said about Sunedu was the “petty cash” of the party, the superintendent denied that the organization was “owner” of any political group.

“I listened to his words with great concern and indignation (…) Worries (that he uses) offensive words for the institution, for the people who work in it (…) Sunedu is not the owner, proprietor or sponsor of any party . The formation of a multidisciplinary board of directors confirms these claims that only Consortium (universities) it’s nothing more fake,” he said.

For his part, he University Consortium responded to the minister with a statement stating that his remarks “do not contribute to democratic dialogue.”

“In a period marked by intense social violence, political confrontation and polarization, declarations Minister of education they do not contribute to a democratic dialogue about the quality and future of education in the country. On the contrary, they contribute to confrontation, cast doubt on the reputation of the education system,” the ministry said.

In this sense, they rejected the minister’s “frivolity in statements” “made to damage our institutional prestige, our history, and with it our students, faculty and alumni.”