Students, lecturers warn Swiss parliament against cuts to education sector

Students and teaching staff said they unanimously rejected the "nonsensical and dangerous budget cuts" proposed by the government in its savings package. Keystone-SDA

Students along with teaching and research staff "continue to categorically reject" the Swiss government's plans to cut subsidies for the education and research sector. Their associations and trade unions are calling for any budget cuts to be abandoned.

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The proposed cuts, part of a savings package submitted by the Federal Council (executive body) to parliament, represent “a very clear threat to working conditions, increasing job insecurity and undermining both the quality and independence of science,” the group said on Monday.

The coalition, made up of the Swiss Student Union (UNES), mid-level faculty and researchers’ union actionuni, the public services union SSP, and the association of university lecturers swissfaculty, spoke to the press ahead of a debate on the savings package in the House of Representatives this week.

The group unanimously rejected the “nonsensical and dangerous budget cuts”, which it pointed out were decided on the basis of a single expert report and without prior consultation with those affected or with the cantons. The plan envisions annual cuts starting in 2027 of CHF120 million ($152 million) for cantonal universities and CHF78 million for the Swiss federal technology institutes ETH Zurich and EPFL in Lausanne.

The board of swissfaculty argued that the budget cuts proposed by the Federal Council in the higher education sector went too far and were short-sighted. It is the task of parliament to correct this, it said.

For its part, actionuni pointed out that the cuts were “not only dangerous, but also unfair”, as they would “disproportionately affect” mid-level academic staff: doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, lecturers and research assistants.

Student union warns against social selection

The Swiss Student Union emphasised that the debate on the savings package is based on a false assumption. While Switzerland is closing its federal accounts with a surplus, an austerity policy is being implemented that will hit education, research and innovation hard, it said.

These cuts are not abstract for students. According to the group, over 70% of them already work alongside their studies. An increase in tuition fees would mean the introduction of social selection, the union warned.

+ Swiss universities to raise tuition amid proposed federal budget cuts

Education is a fundamental responsibility of the state that should not be subject to the logic of profitability, said the public services union. In the long run, the union said it is in favour of tuition-free studies, adequately funded public and independent research, and good and safe working conditions in the country’s universities.

Translated from German with AI/gw

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