Students protest abandoned construction at National Technical College in Encarnación

Students at the National Technical College of Encarnación are voicing strong dissatisfaction over unfinished construction projects that have been abandoned for a full year. The student body is demanding clear explanations from the Ministry of Education and Sciences (MEC) regarding the stalled work, threatening further action if their concerns are not addressed.

Elías Ríos, president of the Student Center, highlighted that the only response received from the MEC has been that an "inform" is being prepared to resume the work. However, months have passed without any visible progress. "We want to understand what happened to communicate it to our colleagues, because we don't even have a response from the authorities," Ríos explained.

The situation is particularly embarrassing as the college is set to host a major science fair soon. Ríos emphasized the negative image projected by the abandoned construction sites, calling it "shameful."

The students are urging authorities to provide a transparent account of the construction's status and to expedite the necessary measures for its completion. The project, part of a larger MEC initiative to repair and build infrastructure in 43 technical colleges, was awarded to Las Cumbres SA for over G. 2.2 billion at the Encarnación institution alone.

According to public data, construction was scheduled to begin on December 19, 2024, with a contractual deadline of October 24, 2025. The director of the Departmental Education Directorate in Itapúa, Julio Figueredo, indicated that the contract might be transferred to another company for continuation. However, attempts to get further details from the MEC's Unitary Operational Contracting (UOC) coordinator, Dalila Zarza, were unsuccessful, as she did not respond to messages or calls.

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