As student protests continue on the grounds of the Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo (UASD), the rectors of UASD and the Instituto Tecnológico (INTEC) agreed to organize a summit of unversity deans and rectors to discuss the controversial presidential decree No. 259-96 which regulates higher education.
Edylberto Cabral of UASD and Rafael Toribio of INTEC agreed to call the summit and reiterated their opposition to the measure which, among other things, gives the National Council of Higher Education (CONES) the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the institutions in order to regulate educational standards. In addition to Mr. Toribio and Mr. Cabral, Monsignor Agripino Nuñez Collado, the rector of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), has expressed his displeasure with the decree.
Reacting to the expressed complaints of the rectors, Hector Perez Reyes, judicial consultant to the former president, told the news media that the measure in no way takes autonomy away from the universities.
The recent protests at UASD have caused the cancelation of classes from 12 to 16 August, and created traffic jams on Avenidas Independencia, Correa y Cidron and George Washington (the Malecon), as one of the main public transport routes runs right through its grounds.