The Methodist Education Network announced this Thursday, 14th, the closure of five undergraduate courses at the Methodist University of São Paulo (Umesp). Physical Education, Production Engineering, Physiotherapy, Radio and TV and Information Systems courses will be closed at the Rudge Ramos campus, in São Bernardo do Campo, Metropolitan Region of São Paulo.
The Dentistry course continues to operate, but is moving to full time.
The institution claimed that the courses had a low number of students enrolled and that the discontinuation is part of the institutional reorganization that has been taking place since 2021, when Metodista filed for judicial recovery.
In an official note, Metodista informed that the measure aims to promote the resumption of sustainable growth in its institutions.
He also said that he has been outlining the best strategies for restructuring the network. “This discontinuity impacts less than 5% of the institution’s total students. We maintain more than 40 active courses in different areas, all with excellent evaluations from the MEC”, he informed.
According to the school, the reorganization is supported by legal bases. “In this way, we will be able to reinvest in ongoing courses and offer new courses that are more in line with current market demand,” he said.
Metodista stated that all students on closed courses were informed and have alternatives for continuing their studies at the institution itself (in another shift and modality) or at institutions that have committed to maintaining financial conditions similar to those practiced at Metodista.
The official note from Metodista does not talk about the fate of teachers who teach courses that will not continue. According to the ABC Teachers’ Union (Sinpro-ABC), around 45 teachers could be laid off.
Metodista has been in crisis since 2015, when the federal government changed the rules of the Student Financing Fund (Fies). There were delays in payments and teacher layoffs. The situation worsened with the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2021, Metodista filed a request for judicial recovery, indicating a debt of R$500 million. The request was granted in the same year and the plan was approved in December 2022.
The report contacted Metodista asking for information about the possible dismissal of teachers and the judicial recovery process and is awaiting a response.
Source: CNN Brasil
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