On Thursday, December 12, after a week of delay, the education budget will be voted on. The government plans to cut more than two billion euros from education and research, while the opposition wants to remove at least 1.3 billion of these cuts. Negotiations are still ongoing throughout the day.
The latest proposal from the coalition to cut 700 million euros from the budget and find the money from other educational sectors is not well received in Maastricht. "Monstrous", says Lies Wesseling, professor and speaker for WO in Actie (Higher Education in Action). "This is how they want to pit different levels of education against each other." She describes the plans as "a vengeful attack on institutions of democracy."
Moreover, adds co-organiser and assistant professor Jonas Heller, 700 million is simply not enough. "All cuts must be reversed. Otherwise, jobs and PhD positions will still be lost. That’s unacceptable. If the opposition agrees, we will continue our actions, such as by striking."
This is something that the Executive Board will support, promises UM President Rianne Letschert to the audience a little later. She praises the willingness to protest and says she is here for two reasons. "Against the cuts, but also because I am concerned about the Internationalization Act and the polarization in this country. These developments are very scary and devestating. We must fight together for the survival of our united international community." Or as two students previously summarized in Limburgish: "People from Belgium, Germany, and France are also people from here."
HOP/CF