Universities reject higher education reform

Prague, Jan 5 (CTK) - Twenty out of 26 academic university senates yesterday rejected the draft reform of Czech universities and called for protest petitions and strikes, Daniel Feranc, secretary of the Charles University Academic Senate, has told CTK.

The universities should turn to the government with their comments, Feranc said, adding that Education Minister Josef Dobes (Public Affairs, VV) was distorting their objections.

Work on the reform has continued for a number of years. It is to introduce university tuition fees.

Due to the disagreement of the academics, the changes have always been postponed.

"The chairmen of the academic senates ask academic senates to consider all the relevant steps with which to make the state power respect the will of members of academic communities and their democratically elected representatives," the resolution passed by the academic senate chairmen said.

"They may consider public protests such as resolutions and petitions and, if need be, demonstrations and strikes," the resolution said.

The university dignitaries lost patience after the Education Ministry failed to deal with their 11 basic comments, Feranc said.

If it had not, the minister would have to inform all government members about them, he added.

The report on the bill on universities is "expediently misleading and it deliberately distorts the comments submitted by the Council of Universities," Feranc said.

This is why university representatives have sent a letter to the government highlighting the complaints of the academic community, he added.

The university dignitaries criticise what they call the unpreparedness of the law on financial help to students and some planned changes.

Fewer students are to newly sit on the academic senates.

The universities also object to that the titles of professor and senior lecturer are not to have national validity, but only to be linked with the specific university that granted them.

The academics have also rejected the tuition fees.

They should start to be paid as from 2013, with the maximum fee of 10,000 crowns for a semester.

The planned reform includes the introduction of saving and loans for tuition. The state would guarantee the banks' loans.

($1=19.893 crowns)