Over the years, the periodic revision of curriculum (1963, 1980, and 1989) has improved students' contact with the reality of forest management. Positive measures have been introduced into the new curriculum. Students now have better insight into forestry problems and of how these may be solved, as well as a more general understanding of rural practices.
In terms of forestry education, the curriculum developed in 1980 was a significant improvement in the quality and quantity of all the disciplines linked to forestry. This led to an expansion of the forestry specialization: disciplines were split and course contents were enlarged. This is in contrast to the 1963 curriculum, when silviculture was taught in just one course. Since then, the curriculum has been divided into several courses, including nursery and forestry, forestry management and planning and wood technology. Other courses were introduced, such as forestry hydrology, watershed management, forestry legislation, agroforestry, forestry farm management and project development.
The 1989 curriculum reduced the forestry training component from two years to one year and a half, which gave less emphasis to forestry production. At the same time, optional courses in forestry decreased mainly because highly qualified instructors were not available.
Uruguay has experienced a tremendous boost to its forestry sector as a result of national Forestry Law of 1987 which provided attractive incentives to forest producers. The changes in forestry curriculum at the university, however, resulted in weaker forestry training and was out of step with forestry development in the country. The Department of Forestry, however, has successfully performed important research on topics relevant to the development of forestry in Uruguay.
The reduction of forestry courses and time dedicated to forestry training did not improve the forestry capabilities of graduates. Students must take courses at the basic cycle that are not directly related to forestry. Indeed, the student who decides to specialize in forestry needs to take courses during the basic cycle which are more related or applied to forestry.
Based on the experiences gained from past curriculum revision processes, there is a unique opportunity to develop a new curriculum that considers the future demand for forestry professionals. Curriculum development must also consider new techniques that are being used successfully by other practitioners.
