Academic circles accuse govt of deception in draft budget
Published : 17 Aug 2019, 02:23
The four-party alliance government on Friday faced a credibility problem over its pledges to restore the role of higher education, reported news agency Xinhua.
In its program unveiled in May, the government had listed exact sums that universities and institutions of applied sciences would be getting. But when the exact details of the proposed budget were released on Friday, the money to be given appeared to be only a fourth of the promise.
On Friday afternoon, a representative coalition of organizations related to the higher learning sector, issued a joint statement saying "the government deceived us".
The newly appointed Minister for Culture Hanna Kosonen joined the debate on Friday. It turned out the Ministry of Education had suggested the 60 million euros promised earlier, but the Ministry of Finance reduced it to 15 million euros.
Kosonen said she -- and her Party, Suomen Keskusta (Centre Party of Finland) -- will insist that the money will be restored before the budget bill goes to the parliament.
The minister of finance Mika Lintilä is also a Keskusta lawmaker. When Lintilä announced the budget on Wednesday he had not gone to these details.
Local media reported on Friday that the Ministry of finance has chosen to "divide" the increase to be given over several years.
In general, the budget reflected the government program and there was no reason to believe the details would be different in that sector, local media said.
Earlier during the summer, the rector of the Helsinki University, Jari Niemelä, had praised the government for its promises. He noted then that the universities would be getting back at least half of what the previous government took away.
Local media has noted that the discrepancy between the promises and the budget is particularly annoying as "rehabilitation of education" was a key theme in the election programs of the opposition parties before the April 2019 election. From the then opposition, the Social Democrats, the Greens and the Left Alliance are now in the cabinet.