Press room

When did the Open University of Portugal emerge?


The Open University came into being twenty years ago, as did other similar universities, when the higher education sector did not dispose of a sufficient offer to meet demand in Portugal. Other similar experiences were considered, and the model chosen was the British Open University. The institution tried to fit the needs of the typical distance student: people with jobs, sometimes with higher education, others with the desire to obtain their first degree. Over the years we have worked primarily with this type of public. Later, other opportunities began to open up in connection with Africa, with former Portuguese colonies such as Angola or Mozambique.


What is the learning model?


Right now we are in the midst of a marked change toward a virtual model; for this reason the experience of the UOC is important for us. During almost two decades, we have worked with the so-called second generation distance learning paradigm, based on books, audio product and video. With the development of virtual learning (e-learning) and as of 2006, we have begun a radical change toward the virtual model. This coming October, our entire pedagogical offer will be of this type.


What presence does the Open University have abroad?


Altogether, the Open University has some ten thousand students. About 30% are abroad or are foreigners. The majority are in Angola, where we have about two thousand students.


And Brazil?


Less. It is a market that we have yet to exploit, in part because of its considerable pedagogical offer in distance learning. However, we do participate in important cooperation initiatives with Brazilian universities.


How is the Bologna Process affecting you?


It was incorporated without problems, theoretically. For the past two years much work has been done to adapt pedagogical offers to the Process, including at the Open University, to the extent that it appeared sufficiently important to me to appoint a vice-rector solely for this matter. I can say, with a certain amount of pride, that the reports we have received regarding this subject are quite positive, from the technical point of view. Now we must consider whether the Bologna Process already exists in fact or merely as a feat of curricular engineering.


Curricular engineering?


It is not difficult to change the system from the technical point of view for the whole new situation of credits, degree supplements, etc. However, what is really important, and I have very serious reservations in this regard, is whether all the consequences of the Process have become evident in reference to the transfer of learning toward the student, in mobility, in the exchange of academic experiences... On these levels it seems to me that we are still lagging behind.


What do the students think?


I believe they think that they haven’t drawn pedagogical conclusions from the Process; to give the student a prominence that depends largely on their individual work, that is, to make the student an active and not a passive element in relation to this new learning model.


What is the situation of the education sector in Portugal, in general?


There is a very important challenge for a small country like Portugal: create higher learning that is truly competitive in the European framework. I’m afraid that in the future the smaller universities, those that don’t have the so-called critical mass that the larger or older ones do, are going to find themselves facing problems of affirmation relative to other pedagogical offers.


How do you believe the Open University of Portugal will evolve?


Distance learning universities had already incorporated the possibility of mobility based on the virtual model. Virtual education presents particularly favorable conditions for adapting to the philosophy of Bologna. Mobility is also intellectual: to study and know what other universities do best, maintain academic correspondence without problems and, at the same time, without the obligation of physical travel. In this sense, I believe that the Process represents a very interesting opportunity.


What do you think about initiatives such as Open Course Ware to freely disseminate all knowledge?


There is a Portuguese proverb that says "when you give too much charity to a poor person, they will be suspicious of you". This open educational offer gives to any citizen from any part of the world the possibility to learn about the work of a given institution, one of the finest in the world in the case of MIT. It must be taken into account that this is done in English and from the American pedagogical, philosophical and cultural point of view. There is the risk that in a perhaps not very distant future, the offer of higher education will be reduced to some twelve universities, distributed by areas throughout the world, and that, under this Anglo-Saxon pedagogical model, would seriously affect the quality represented by diversity. Now it is free, but I don’t know if it will be so in the future, when this has already become a reality that can’t be copied.


What kind of alliance is being forged with the UOC?


For years, there have been personal relations between professors of the two universities, a sign of healthy institutional dialogue. We must learn with the UOC, try to deepen the possibilities for exchange, with the objectivity that the UOC, in the universe of virtual universities, is an exemplary model. In the future we want to carry out agreements, exchange pedagogical offers, publications... I would emphasize the great capacity of the UOC for coordination with the real world, with the economy, business, society... The UOC has a direct relation with the reality of Catalonia, a characteristic that on many occasions is lacking in universities, because civil society forgets that science and culture are to be found there.


How do you see relations between Spain and Portugal?


To begin with, in Portugal we experienced the Spanish victory in the European Cup in football as if it were our own (laughs). The borders between the two countries are progressively disappearing. Spanish and Catalan economic presence in Portugal are very important, many Portuguese students study here and Spanish professionals, especially doctors, work in Portugal, etc. This is very exciting to me because I have a longstanding emotional and cultural relation with Spain, and I believe that it is very worthwhile and practically a cross-cultural necessity.


Nobel Prize winner José Saramago has suggested, on more than one occasion, the idea of joining together the two countries...


Yes, I attended his Nobel prize-giving ceremony in Stockholm and I am very supportive of Saramago’s idea of the Iberian union. Twenty years ago, not to mention in times of each of their dictatorships, this would have been unthinkable, but nowadays it’s an idea that is quite acceptable.