El derecho a la educación superior, obligaciones internacionales y obligaciones reforzadas en contexto de pandemia.

Abstract

This research was developed considering the health crisis the world is going through, due to the new Coronavirus COVID-19 disease, declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. The analysis is based on the right to Higher Education, from the perspective of the Universal Human Rights System and the obligations assumed by States to respect and guarantee human rights in the Inter-American System; as well as the review and verification of the Ecuadorian State's compliance with the reinforced obligations that it must implement to guarantee the effective exercise of this right in the context of a pandemic. The study begins by reviewing and analyzing the international obligations contracted by the signing of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights UNHCR (1966) and the ratification of the American Convention on Human Rights OAS (1969) regarding the Right to Higher Education, then focusing in the characteristics or international standards of acceptability, adaptability, accessibility and availability; and, the Right to Higher Education in the Ecuadorian legal system. Subsequently, the public policy regarding the right to Higher Education, adopted by the Ecuadorian State during the state of emergency due to COVID-19, will be evaluated from an international perspective. The research has been developed using the qualitative method, thoroughly reviewing the literature developed around the obligations of the State and the human right to higher education. In order to test the hypothesis, the survey technique directed at students from public and private higher education institutions was used.