Academics petition for change
More than 250 university academics have signed a document calling for the government to push ahead necessary changes to the tertiary sector but have stopped short of siding with the Education Ministry’s plans for wide-ranging reforms. The document puts forth the views of 271 teachers on changes that can help the university system operate more efficiently, such as increasing state funding in the sector and drawing up a strategic plan for each university. «This document is a sign of our concern for the negative developments that are taking shape at universities after the commotion of last year,» the text said. University staff and students have been staging protests in recent months opposing government plans to recognize private or non-state universities. The critics argue that the reforms will effectively exclude poorer students from higher education and erode the quality of free state education. Apart from educators striking on the issue, students have also shut down tens of university faculties to protest the proposed reforms. «There is a danger appearing of worsening ties between universities and a drop in the ethical standards involved in the education process… [factors] that will both lead with mathematical precision to the collapse of public universities,» the text added. One of the basic demands of educators is for the government to increase spending in the sector to 5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Currently, the conservative New Democracy government allocates an amount equivalent to about 3.5 percent of total GDP.
