Rampant crime and violence spill over into universities

Universities in Central America have not been immune to the surge of violence infiltrating the region. Students have fallen victim to violent crimes, on-campus security measures have tightened and foreign exchange programmes have pulled out.

In a 2011 United Nations Report, Honduras was named one of the most violent countries in the world, with 82 homicides per 100,000 residents. Neighbouring countries Guatemala and El Salvador registered just behind Honduras, with 41 and 66 respectively.

To put this into perspective, not even a hotbed of conflict like the Middle East registers numbers as high.

“Violent crime in Central America – particularly in the ‘northern triangle’ of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala – is reaching breathtaking levels,” reads a report filed before the United States Council of Foreign Relations.

“The region is awash in weapons and gunmen, and high rates of poverty ensure substantial numbers of willing recruits for organised crime syndicates. Weak, underfunded and sometimes corrupt governments struggle to keep up with the challenge.”

While those involved in higher education sometimes consider universities oases of enlightenment and innovation, they have not been able to keep violence at their doorstep. In the countries that line the Central American isthmus, students have been murdered, equipment stolen and nerves jostled.

“The fact is that no institution can be protected,” Michael Shifter, author of the United States Council of Foreign Relations report, told University World News. “If we’ve learned one thing about criminal violence, it is that it affects all spheres of society, even higher learning.”

In October 2011, the rector of Honduras’s most prestigious and largest public university, the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), lost her son to murder. Julieta Castellanos had been an outspoken critic of state institutions’ responses to crime.

In Panama, the main public university is buckling down amid a flush of break-ins and theft. Administrators have installed security cameras, set up security gates and issued a magnetic student cards.

Mexico created a 77-page manual for how universities should respond to heightened violence. “Insecurity has touched the most sensitive fibers of our society and has shown the delicacy and vulnerability of educational spaces at the primary, secondary and higher education levels,” the manual says.

Crime is also affecting universities financially.

According to a World Bank report, experts estimate that nearly 8% of gross domestic product in Central American countries is invested in crime prevention and security measures – money which is not being directed to social programmes and education.

With many universities in Central America relying on government funding, such a heavy investment in crime means less money for higher education.

In fact, the Central American countries with the highest indices of crime have the lowest investments in education. While Panama and Costa Rica are investing 4.1% and 4.9% of their gross national product in higher education, El Salvador and Guatemala are investing a mere 2.6% and 3.2%, according to a UNESCO report.

Furthermore, fewer students are choosing to study abroad in the region and exchange programmes are pulling out, which is resulting in the loss of a traditional revenue stream for these institutions.

“Violence is terribly costly,” said Shifter, who is president of the Inter-American Dialogue.

“Resources that could be directed to support universities instead go to funding prisons and covering soaring health expenses. Universities will have a hard time attracting the best talent if the wider society is so dangerous.”

Assistant Secretary of Higher Education in Mexico Rodolfo Tuirán Gutiérrez told the daily La Jornada that, facing the perception of increasing insecurity, foreign universities have reacted by limiting exchange programmes with Mexican institutions.

According to a 2010 article in the Mexican publication, the Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas lost more than 2,300 international students who returned to their home countries due to violence.

Suspensions of classes have affected more than 60,000 students and the Universidad Iberoamericana in La Laguna relocated for safety reasons.

In January, Indiana University suspended a 10-year exchange programme with the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH) due to high levels of crime. The decision followed on the heels of a similar move to withdraw from the area by the United States Peace Corps.

“Authorities at Indiana University have made this decision based on national and international news reports in recent months concerning violence, organised crime and the removal of United States Peace Corps workers,” read a press release from the university.

Administrators at the UNAH called the decision a blow not only to the student community but also to the general population of Honduras.

But most do not see citizen safety levels improving in the region.

Experts say local governments lack the funds and the structure to effectively confront issue of crime – which stems from the drug trade, defective criminal justice systems and the availability of firearms.

As the recent United Nations Human Development report reads: “Citizen safety has become one of the central concerns of the Latin American and Caribbean populations and an obstacle to sustainable human development. Communities and people see limited options in their lives and organisations due to the threats against personal safety, property and basic public assets.”