The President Javier Milei presented the project of Budget 2026in which the elimination of several financing guidelines such as The 6% goal of GDP stipulated for educationthe progressive reduction of investment in science and technology (which includes a maximum of 1% of GDP) and the National Fund for Professional Technical Education Schools.
According to Milei, social spending in the project of the “Law of Laws” that will be discussed in Congress will increase next year the game in retirement, 17% in health and 8% in education. At the same time, it will grant an extension to the budget item for universities, which will be $ 4.8 billion.
What is observed with the 2026 budget project presented by Milei is an abrupt fall in educational investment, which mostly impacts workers’ salaries (where about 90% of resources is derived), as well as in other key areas such as science, technology and infrastructure of the area.
Scope He consulted several specialists who indicated the scope of budget cuts and negative effects both for education and scientific development in the country, which It derives in a negative impact for the training of technical cadres and qualified labor for the labor market.
In detail, article 30 of the 2026 budget project proposes the repeal of norms that guarantee the financing of education and science, such as article 9 of the National Education Law (26.206), which establishes that the consolidated educational investment of Nation, Provinces and CABA cannot be less than 6% of GDP.
For Romina de LucaConicet researcher and coordinator of the Education Area of the Center for Studies and Research in Social Sciences (CEICS), “there is a constant decrease in spending as a percentage of GDP that is led by 5%.”
In a dialogue with this medium, he analyzed: “In the national spending, a 42% drop to which new cuts were added in 2025 is observed between 2023 and 2024 (had projected an 8% rise that is not going to be met). The 2026 budget eliminates the obligation to allocate 6% of the GDP to education and also the progressive rise for science and technology of 1%, goals are currently not being fulfilled.”
According to the Conicet researcher, the government project “is a promise of growth for education and universities, which lost 40%, with an inflationary projection and economic growth that will not be fulfilled according to specialists.” Therefore, De Luca said, “I think it is an announcement that seeks to decompress the anger more than real solutions. And even if those goals were given, the loss occurred between 2023-2024” do not repurify.
The government project announced yesterday also tries to eliminate articles 5, 6 and 7 of Law 27.614 on the financing of the National System of Science, Technology and Innovation, together with article 52 of Law 26,058 on Professional Technical Education. Thus, The initiative seeks not only to suppress the 6% goal of GDP for education, but also the progressive financing of science and technology stipulated in up to 1% of GDP, In addition, the National Fund for Professional Technical Education Schools (0.2% of current income), added to the attempt of the progressive increase in investment for National Defense (FONDEF).
For the economist Juan Ignacio Dobertiprofessor and researcher at the UBA, the 2026 budget “is very negative for everything that is social services and especially education.” “He repeals an article by the National Education Law that put 6% of GDP as a horizon. An article of the Professional Technical Education Law also repealed that led to 0.2 percent of GDP, which contributed a budget for the equipment of the technical schools,” he said.
He added: “It also repeals an article on the financing of the Science and Technology Law, which closes 1% of the PDI, that is, the project plant a long -term horizon with de -financing. In the short term it is also the dental, unlike what Milei says because it is a difference between reality and fiction. Every month the real university budget is reduced“He explained to Scope.
At hours of the Federal University March against the Veto de Milei, Doberti He highlighted: “The government’s arguments to veto the law are ridiculous. The fiscal cost is equivalent to a quarter of the reduction of personal property tax to the richest, one third of the interest surcharge of the last months or 25% less than the decline of retentions to agric or the literacy plan that, in reality, finances official consultants, “he explained. “The main cost of universities, wages, fell more than a third, most charge $ 250,000 per month, causing the resignation of 10,000 teachers and the unrecoverable loss of research equipment,” he said.
From the union sector they also warned of the risks in the cutting of the educational budget by 2026. The Confederation of Workers and Education Workers of the Argentine Republic (CTERA) He rejected Milei’s project since “deepens the path of refinancing of education, science and technology in our country.”
Through a statement, the guild that groups most of the country’s teachers pointed against the government since it is “a new twist in the adjustment policy that since 2023 hits the public school since 2023, and now intends to advance with an even greater cut.”
With these unreal projections, the budget again reduces educational financing in relation to GDP: “In 2023 it reached 1.44% of GDP, in 2024 it fell to 0.86% and in 2026 it is expected to reduce 0.75% of GDP, according to official figures,” they explained.
Source: Ambito
