HIGHER EDUCATION ACREDITATION PROCESSES IN MERCOSUR AND THE EMERGENCE OF NACIONAL EVALUATION IN PARAGUAY

The paper analizes the process of construction of the evaluation of higher education in Paraguay, presenting how a global policy is created and re-created at the regional and national levels. We showed that it was the participation in the regional accreditation processes of the Mercosur educativo (Mexa and Arcu-Sur) which encouraged and promoted the country's concern for evaluation and resulted in the creation of a national evaluation agency, during the expansion of higher education institutions, especially private ones. The paper is based in research, using documental analysis and interviews with participants in the elaboration and development of the evaluation processes.