The rector of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), Ricardo Gelpiexpressly asked President Javier Milei to review his decision to veto the education funding law which was approved by both chambers of Congress: “I respect the President’s opinion but I do not share it at all: I think that defunding the public education sector and we are going to pay dearly for it.”
The request of the rector of the UBA to Javier Milei
He Executive power anticipated that Javier Milei’s veto of the educational financing law will be made official in the next few days. In this sense, and after the Confederation of Education Workers of the Argentine Republic (CTERA) announce a new federal educational march for the next October 2ndGelpi crossed paths with the President and asked him for a larger budget for education.
In this sense, the teacher assured that it is “It is a mistake to talk about spending on public education” and argued that developed countries “They invest a lot of money” in this area. “Very little is changed (in the Budget). The most important thing is that spending on education is not money that is thrown away, it is an investment in the country and in young people. Public education has been a pillar of education in Argentina and the famous social mobility, which allowed people to grow and advance.”
In detail, the increase includes a increase in operating costs and salaries of teachers and non-teaching staff. This increase will generate a Fiscal impact of $735.598 billion which implies the 0.14% of GDPas reported by the Congressional Budget Office.
According to Gelpi, the situation at the UBA is critical: the rector said that they ran out of resources to pay for reagents and many professors began to leave the university.We have a salary delay of 40% to 50%, that is a fact.. We don’t have money for research“And I speak from experience: we cannot buy reagents for research, we cannot publish works that increase the prestige of the university. This is not politics, these are concrete facts,” he said.
“Mr. President: as a teacher, as a researcher and professor and as rector of the UBA, I would ask you please, for the future of the country, that this law is not vetoed. For the future of the country of young people, of public education, of research and of public health, which They are the pillars of a first world country“, concluded the rector of the renowned university.
From the national government, they denied the accusations of the educational sector and assured that they have “a permanent dialogue” with universities. In his regular press conference, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni said: “Since we took office, there has been a 270% increase in operating expenses and $49 billion for university hospitals, in addition to a 76.1% increase in salary guidelines.”
In this regard, Adorni gave his opinion on the strike and stated: “Measures do not fuel dialogue”. In the first 7 months of Javier Milei’s management, a 31.5% less funding for the 57 national universities compared to the same period of 2023to real values.
CTERA called for a new national university strike
Through its social networks, CTERA announced a new national strike and federal educational march, opening a new conflict between the national government and the educational sector. October 2nd Federal Educational Strike and March“ENOUGH OF ADJUSTMENTS,” they stated in a post on their social networks.
The union’s previous strike action data from April 23 of this yearwhere teachers from the confederation also carried out a national strike that had a high level of compliance throughout the country. On this occasion, among the main points of demand CTERA demands a increased budget for education and the restoration of the National Teacher Incentive Fund.
In addition, the union led by Alesso will use the strike day to oppose the pension reforms and the veto of the legislative proposal of university financing.
The teachers’ union will not be the only organization that has activated a plan of struggle against the measures of the libertarian administration. For its part, the Argentine Federation of Workers of National Universities (FATUN) and the Association of Workers of the National University of the Arts (ATUNA) also confirmed a strike, which will take place this Thursday, September 26.
In addition, other organizations were in favor of the measure that will take place on October 2. From the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) confirmed that they will join the university march. The labor union, headed by co-secretary Pablo Moyano, held a press conference on Wednesday afternoon to confirm their support for the federal university march: “As appropriate, the CGT will give all its support and will mobilize on October 2 in defense of the university budget.“, said the head of the Truck Drivers’ Union.
Source: Ambito
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