University operations must be accessible to everyone who wants to study and, especially for people from risk groups, the mask requirement means that they can participate in university life more safely, according to ÖH Chairwoman Keya Baier (Green and Alternative Students/GRAS) in an interview the APA.
The ÖH does not want to wait until autumn, “then there is no way around it anyway”. The point has already been reached where people from the risk groups are de facto prevented from taking exams or taking part in seminars due to the lifting of the mask requirement at almost all universities. “This is an intolerable situation for us.” In addition, a close-knit test infrastructure is needed again in autumn and – if the fourth vaccination should be generally recommended – also low-threshold vaccination offers at the universities.
With a view to the coming academic year, the ability to plan is also extremely important. The fact that each university can decide autonomously about its Corona rules is quite understandable given the very different requirements – from individual artistic lessons to mass lectures. However, the universities should at least announce the respective regulations at a similar time and exchange information about what works well and what doesn’t. Baier would also like the ministry to set incentives for universities of applied sciences and private universities so that they respond more to the students’ desire for more digital and hybrid teaching.
More support
In addition, Baier, who took over the ÖH executive chair from Sara Velic from the Association of Socialist Students (VSStÖ) in June, insists that the ministry provide students with more support for the financial problems that have become more acute due to the corona. The most recent, broad-based student survey with around 30,000 participants showed that one in three students is struggling to make ends meet. Long-term answers are needed here, for example by giving more students the right to study grants.
The fact that the government announced the long-demanded valorisation of study grants with its anti-inflation package makes Baier “very happy. And I don’t think that would have happened if we hadn’t demanded it so vehemently last year”. From the ÖH point of view, however, that is far from enough: the 300 euros one-off payment for recipients of study aid is quickly used up and a much larger group of recipients is needed, currently only twelve percent receive study aid due to the restrictions (age requirements, proof of performance, exclusion of third-country nationals). .
In view of the rising prices, more money is also urgently needed for the universities themselves. They have already announced that without financial compensation from the Ministry of Education there is a risk of a wave of layoffs. “We have to watch that very closely,” says Baier. After all, in this case study assistants, tutors and research assistants would be affected first and foremost. “These are students who are sitting on the street and their income is falling.” At the University of Salzburg, for example, half of the student assistant positions were cut in 2019 to plug the budget hole, according to Baier, who was the local ÖH chairwoman there at the time.
More presence
After the historically low participation of just under 16 percent in the last ÖH elections, the ÖH is trying to be more present among the students – through “good political representation work” and more involvement of the students, the election campaign for 2023 is already being planned. In addition, attempts are being made to make the relatively little-known federal representation better known and to support the other ÖH levels (university, faculty and study representation) in their concrete work for the students.
Baier also sees the most recent broad-based student survey with 30,000 participants as an important lever. The results are now to be used one-to-one for political representation work at both the federal and university level – with success, as Baier says with regard to the study grant.
The ÖH is putting further pressure on in the fight against the climate crisis: Student projects are being funded via a funding pot, and the individual university representatives are also being supported in initiating changes in their rectorates. The goal of making universities climate-neutral by 2030 is also being worked on together with the Ministry of Education and universities. The climate ministry is considering what a certification process could look like here.
The ÖH is still skeptical about the planned new technical university in Upper Austria. Even after the changes made after widespread criticism (introduction of an advisory board with university and ÖH representatives), the “Institute of Digital Science” planned in Linz remains an “optional candy project that does nothing for the students or for research”. Baier now hopes that the planned introduction of bachelor’s and master’s degrees, “which nobody needs anyway”, will be abandoned and only doctoral studies will be offered.
Source: Nachrichten
