Public higher education in the Community of Madrid has been facing a calculated and constant siege for years. The Government of Isabel Diaz Ayuso has taken out the budgetary chainsaw against the six public universities in the region, condemning them to financial asphyxiation that threatens their existence. With a budget increase for 2025 of just 0.9% – minimal in the face of inflation and growing needs – these institutions face the collapse of their capacity to educate, research and guarantee equal opportunities. The intention seems clear: to open the way to a elitist model where only a few will be able to access to quality higher studies.
The numbers don’t lie. The general budget project, presented by the Ayuso Government for 2025, barely expands funding for public universities by 5.4 million euros. This, as the rectors have warned, is not only insufficient to address pressing needs, but also occurs in a context in which The real budget allocated to these institutions “is lower than in 2009if the accumulated inflation of more than 30% is discounted,” he explains to Public Esteban Alvarezspokesperson for Education of the PSOE in the Madrid Assembly.
Ayuso proposes to the rectors to improve financing by 3.8%, below the 4% that they had calculated as the essential minimum
This amounts to more than a decade of chronic underfunding that has left public universities in a situation of structural precariousness. Something that contrasts greatly with other areas such as bullfighting, which Ayuso plans to irrigate with 4.5 million.
The figures show the strategy of the regional government: prioritizing the creation and promotion of private universities while public ones literally sink. “In one of the public universities, the roof of a teaching facility has collapsed, fortunately without victims, but with an incalculable cost in terms of security and academic dignity,” says Álvarez. “We are facing a systematic attack on the public university. It is no longer about scarcity, but about a deliberate plan for its demolition“he continues.
Reluctantly accepts money from the ministry
In an unprecedented gesture, the rectors of the six Madrid public universities published an open letter addressed to the Madrid president on November 28, warning about the “economic unsustainability” of the system. They noted that, without a multi-year financing plan and a minimum budget increase of 4%, they will not be able to guarantee the quality or continuity of their services. The Minister of Science, Innovation and Universities, Diana Morant, also addressed Ayuso. He did so this Monday through a letter in which he urged him to rectify his position on the María Goyri Program and “join the path of collaboration and understanding in defense of public universities.”
According to official data, close to 50% of the teaching staff in Madrid’s public universities is temporary.
As a result of public pressure, Ayuso has reluctantly accepted – being the last Popular Party community to do so – the 160 million euros offered by the Ministry of Universities, intended for reduce the temporary employment of teachers and stabilize staffin compliance with European directives. The president has also offered the rectors to improve the financing of public universities by 3.8% for the next academic year, after meeting with them this Tuesday after lunch.
However, although they seem like two small victories, as you have warned the Más Madrid deputy Antonio Sánchez on his social networksthese are palliative measures that will not resolve the cut in framework financing that, even with these funds, will continue to be insufficient.
The lack of resources not only affects buildings that are deteriorating beyond repair, but also staff. According to official data, About 50% of the teaching staff in Madrid’s public universities is temporarya percentage much higher than the maximum 8% allowed by European legislation. Without a significant increase in budgets, many universities will find themselves forced to lay off teachers, reduce grades and increase tuition pricesleaving out those who cannot afford a private education.
Esteban Álvarez: “Ayuso puts the research and social function of public universities at risk”
“This not only threatens educational quality, but also puts at risk the research and social function of public universities“Adds Esteban Álvarez. “It also does not correct the fact that salaries in them are the lowest in Spain if it is combined with the cost of living,” Antonio Sánchez recalled on X (formerly Twitter).
In the midst of this gloomy panorama, teachers, students and administrative staff have begun to organizeproposing actions ranging from assemblies to rallies in front of the Madrid Assembly. “No university can survive in these conditions,” he warns in statements to this medium. Rommy Arcefrom CGT. The union has called together with CCOO for the protest that is scheduled to take place this Wednesday in front of the regional chamber, the same day on which the budgets are debated. The union of forces at this time – they consider – is crucial to reverse this “direct attack on one of the pillars of social equality.” In fact, the objective is to create a platform in defense of the public university.
The private university soars
The public university is languishing, but private ones flourish like never before. Even without always meeting the necessary academic standards, these institutions grow under the protection of policies that favor their expansion, eroding the concept of education as a right and “transforming it into a business.” According to the latest report published by the Knowledge and Development Foundation (not a very suspicious organization, since it is chaired by Ana Botín), in Madrid There are twice as many private universities as public oneswith 13 versus six respectively.
In fact, the region has become the autonomy with the most private higher education centers in the entire State. The latest designations under the category of university have been for the University of Design, Innovation and Technology, which will begin to operate as an independent higher education center in the 2023-2024 academic year, and the UNIE University, which has entered this 2022-23 academic year. . In addition to the CUNEF University, from the year 2021-2022, and the International University of Villanueva, from the 2020-21 academic year.
A university law that could deepen the disaster
However, the budget gap is not the only problem facing the public university. In July of this year, the rectors received an advance from the Ministry of Education, Science and Universities with the general lines of the new university law that the Ayuso Government plans to approve, where the door was opened to greater commercialization of higher educationto the signing of concerts and public financing of private universities or the sanction of the student protest.
The document, to which he had access Public At the time, it established a “co-responsibility in obtaining resources”, where Public universities would have to assume 30% of their budgets through their own resources. That is, mainly through income derived from the offer of own securities, the price of fees and agreements with companies. In addition, the letter mentioned the objective of “combating the illegal occupation of public spaces and vandalism” through minor, serious and very serious sanctions.
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