The universities They expect a massive mobilization to demand a budget to guarantee their functioning and the purchasing power of their teachers. Javier Milei advanced the veto of the university financing law approved by both chambers, but waits until the federal march passes to reduce the political cost. In that framework, opposition deputies also anticipate and they seek to obtain the two-thirds that will allow them to ratify the project that was approved in September.
The speculation that the non-governmental blocs have, from those considered dialogueists to the most oppositional, is that the territorial influence that public universities have in their districts mobilize those who hesitate to support a budget improvement or, at least, to be absent from the session to improve the chances of success. The direct precedent was the veto on retirements, when they were 13 votes away from reaching two-thirds. They long to obtain them from the UCR, federal blocks or even from the PRO.
“It is very difficult to return to your provinces after not voting against the veto. Many are university professors or know the rectors there.“, they argue from radicalism, from where they organized – together with Federal Meeting and the Civic Coalition– a press conference this Tuesday to accompany the university march on October 2. Neither Peronism nor the left, which also oppose the presidential veto, were invited to that meeting. “We did not want to represent ourselves at the extremes“, said one of the deputies who spoke at the conference for this medium.
However, there were two striking presences at the conference: that of Senator Guadalupe Tagliaferri and that of the deputy Alvaro Gonzalezboth from the block of PRO with proximity to Horacio Rodríguez Larretawho launched his own label, MAD. Within the party chaired by Mauricio Macri they play down the influence that both parliamentarians would have by rejecting the veto. “We have Alvarito (NdR: González is 65 years old) voting differently, but we have a homogeneous position that is to protect the fiscal balance and discuss the amounts for universities in the Budget debate“, one of the youngest PRO legislators in the area told Ámbito.
In the WhatsApp groups of PRO leaders files sent by the Secretary of Education circulate, Carlos Torrendellwhich will serve as argumentative column in every debate on university funding: the growth in the number of university entrants is not replicated in the increase in graduates; They consider that there is no correspondence between the number of teaching and non-teaching personnel for each regular student; and they understand that it is irregular that the average time it takes a university student to graduate is 10.2 years.
From the peronism They share a view with the PRO: they understand that, even if they reverse the eventual veto, The Government can continue postponing the execution of the budget items provided by the university lawso the central debate will be that of Budget 2025. There they point to the points of the project that suspend during Fiscal Year 2025 the laws on Financing of the National Science System, Technical Professional Education and National Education, where minimum percentages of educational investment subject to GDP are set.
“There is no minimum investment percentage, it is for the tribune. Furthermore, it does not apply,” the member of one of the blocs where the gaze is most concentrated, said for this medium – coinciding with the official position. Federal Innovation. Their nine votes correspond to four governors of provinces that have public universities of reference in the region. “We do not have a position yet, although there is greater pressure than with retirements“, he added and alluded to the general abstention they decided to face the previous veto. Their lack of positioning represents a position.
What the University Financing Law says that Javier Milei could veto
Both the President of the Nation and his spokesperson assured that the university financing law will be totally vetoed. It will be made official on Thursday, October 3, one day after the university march and the deadline for the head of the Executive to do so. Approval would generate a fiscal impact of $735,598 million, which implies 0.14 percent of GDP as reported by the Congressional Budget Office.
Educational reform.jfif
Ministry of Human Capital
The project was signed into law on September 13 by the Senateand has a salary recomposition subject to inflation from December 2023 until the same period this year. Afterwards, what was defined by the Budget 2025. In the event that the unions and university leaders agree to a joint agreement with the Executive, the law stipulates not to apply. This proposal occurs within the framework of a succession of months in which the universities have not been able to agree on an increase that they consider legitimate. “The joint negotiations are not serious negotiations; “You offer them a percentage and they don’t move from there.”considered Ámbito a radical deputy.
“More than 70% of higher education workers receive salaries below the poverty line,” said the National Interuniversity Councilwhich also demands the recomposition of the National Teacher Incentive Fund, which has been in force since 1998. The university march on April 24 marked the first milestone of massive collective sensitivity against the current Government. This October 2, and with the support of the CGT, it will be able to have greater mass. It remains to know its real impact.
Source: Ambito
