The Parliament of the Canary Islands has approved the Law on Social Councils and Coordination of the University System of the Canary Islands, which reformulates the functioning of the social councils of public universities, bodies that represent society within universities and, in short, connect the University with society.
The rule was approved this Wednesday without the votes of the PSOE, and this lack of consensus transcends the Parliament: although there are positive assessments from some sectors of society, the main affected parties, the public universities of the Archipelago, disagree with the regulation, although they acknowledge that they will have to adapt to the changes.
Controlled Universities
“We sincerely believe that the decision made by the Parliament is not a good one,” says Francisco García, the rector of the University of La Laguna (ULL), to Atlántico Hoy. He argues that public universities are already subject to multiple control mechanisms. “This law is not about increasing control over the universities. We are already very controlled; there is no other public administration in the Canary Islands as controlled from a financial economic perspective,” he asserts.
Among other mechanisms, he cites the annual audit by the General Intervention, the controls by the Court of Auditors, and the internal control exercised by the Social Council itself. In the rector’s view, the new law transfers competencies that should fall under the Governing Council or other academic bodies to the Social Council: “The fact that the Social Council will make decisions that should naturally be made by other collegiate bodies like the Governing Council will lead to less effective decisions, honestly.” He adds: “It may provide information for making those decisions, but they should not be the final decision-makers.”
What the Law Says
The regulation adapts to the Organic Law of the University System (LOSU) and seeks, according to its promoters, to make universities more transparent, effective, and better connected with society. The key is that it reinforces the role of social councils, which will be composed of representatives from the Government, Parliament, councils, trade unions, professional associations, students, and staff (teaching and administrative personnel of the universities, respectively).
It also regulates their financing and grants them autonomy through their own regulations. Among their functions are supervising economic management, approving budgets and accounts, providing information on the creation of centres and degrees, promoting resource acquisition, and fostering the employability of students.
Conference of Social Councils
Moreover, the norm creates the Conference of Social Councils and consolidates the University Council of the Canary Islands as a consultation body, while the Government of the Canary Islands assumes competencies related to strategic planning, adjusting academic offerings, managing scholarships, and promoting mobility between universities.
During the parliamentary debate, the deputy from Canary Coalition, Vidina Espino, argued that this law aims at “universities that are open to society with a strengthening of the role of social councils.” Espino stated that “university autonomy is reaffirmed and the competencies of the social council are clearly delineated, which does not interfere in academic matters, but does ensure the proper use of public resources, the link between the university and society, and its participation in strategic planning.”
She also asserted that “citizens have the right to know the return on the resources they invest in the university” and that “the majority presence of public universities in the University Council is guaranteed, with only five representatives from private institutions.”
From the Popular Party, deputy María Isabel Saavedra highlighted that the law consolidates “a model of open universities with strong social councils, acting as a genuine space for dialogue with society and participating in the strategic orientation of the universities.”
In Favour and Against
In contrast, the PSOE and Nueva Canarias (NC) voted against, arguing that too much weight is given to private universities and for the lack of dialogue. Yaiza López Landi from the PSOE stated: “Our amendments were not accepted, and the rectors, the governing councils, nor the students were heard; this process should have been built with the participation of all involved parties.”
She added that “this law modifies the governance model of public universities without consensus and gives more prominence to social councils without strengthening the system as a whole.” Carmen Hernández from Nueva Canarias pointed out: “We want to strengthen public universities, while the Government opts to give more weight to private institutions.”
Hernández unsuccessfully advocated for the establishment of new private universities to be done transparently and always after parliamentary debate.
Even though they voted in favour, Vox deputy Nicasio Galván criticised that “this is not a law of consensus, as the rectors themselves oppose it,” and rejected “the gender approach” and quotas, which he called “an absolute nonsense.” He also expressed opposition to limiting the number of representatives from private universities to five in the University Council.
Students and Business People
Outside Parliament, the law has also received criticism. The Coordinating Body of Representatives of Students from Public Universities (CREUP) warned that it represents “a serious setback” because “it grants new powers to Social Councils, directly encroaching on functions that were previously the responsibility of university governing bodies,” thus opening “the door to external, political, or business interference in academic decisions.”
CREUP lamented that “it has not been the fruit of dialogue or consensus with the university community” and emphasised that “the public university cannot function under business logic or respond to interests unrelated to its educational, research, and social mission.”
On the other hand, the President of the Social Council at the University of La Laguna, Francisco Almeida, defended that the law “does not seek to undermine university autonomy and has the consensus of the main parliamentary groups.”
From the business sector, however, this reform is viewed positively. The President of CEOE Tenerife, Pedro Alfonso, considered it “very good news” because it “gives universities greater capacity to relate to reality, not just in business, which is very necessary for the transfer of knowledge and the entry of graduates into the job market.” He stated that “the competitiveness of private universities is a milestone that has come to stay” and that “it is honestly a significant step forward.”
