UNAM's handling of exam controversy praised by education specialists

Education specialists Irma Villalpando and Marco A. Fernández believe that the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) is effectively managing the crisis surrounding its controversial online entrance exam. They stated that the university's actions prevent the perception that students who cheated could get away with it.

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The management of its crisis is going well and could not send the message that those who cheated could get away with it.

Speaking on the program "Con los de Casa," the experts noted that despite the controversy, UNAM's legitimacy is unlikely to suffer. Villalpando, a professor at UNAM, emphasized the institution's solid foundation, historical trajectory, and significant presence in Mexico. "It has the strength and prestige to overcome the crisis, and it is facing it well," she commented.

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UNAM is a solid institution, with a historical trajectory and enormous presence in Mexico, due to its legacy and contribution to previous and current generations. It has the strength and prestige to move forward from the crisis, it is facing it well.

Fernández described the recommendation from a committee of specialists, convened by rector Leonardo Lomelí, to administer a control test to admitted students as sensible. He argued that the university "could not send the signal that cheaters could get away with it." He also pointed to the resignation of UNAM's Secretary General, Patricia Dávila, who was overseeing the entrance exam, as an "energetic signal."

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it could not send the signal that cheaters could get away with it.

Both experts urged UNAM to learn from this experience to improve future admission processes, particularly concerning the tendering for exam applications. They also advised students who will retake the test not to enroll in regularization courses, asserting that they are already prepared. The discussion also touched upon UNAM's budget, the Usicamm case, and the impact of artificial intelligence on education, with Villalpando calling AI and chatbots the "biggest disruption" in education in recent years.

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There has already been a consequence, the departure of the Secretary General of UNAM (Patricia Dávila), it is an energetic signal, because she was in charge of the University's entrance exam. I trust that they will do the in-person exam well and will have obtained a series of lessons for future admission processes.