The dead-end conflict between the country’s universities and government must end. We are going through the seventh week with the universities still remaining closed due to the clash between administrative employees and the government, resulting in students being unable to register and the September exam period having been postponed. Thousands of students are at risk of wasting a semester of their studies.
The university administrations and the relevant Minister of Education are both to blame for not coordinating and coming to an understanding. The rectors refused to accept across-the-board cuts, while the Minister insists upon the need for cuts and their resistance towards evaluating their employees. The efforts of academics and students to defuse the crisis had no effect, meaning that for yet another year higher education is in jeopardy.
The many problems in education and the universities will not be solved with face-on attacks and dead-end fixations. We need consent, dialog and above all, common sense. More than 18,000 students have signed an online petition demanding that universities reopen because they are areas of academic activities, not political games. There are many solutions, many of which have been discussed in detail. No prosecutors, no threat of dismissal for any employee not registering and obviously no permanent shut down can provide a solution for today’s deadlock.
It is time the state and academics sat down and sought out the best possible exit from the crisis; with logical and fair cuts that will not disrupt university operations and understanding of their special role. The young generation has paid enough for the crisis plaguing the land. We do not need to make things worse by destabilizing the universities.
TO VIMA
