Universities threaten closure over lack of funds

Committee of University Presidents head says Treasury hasn't transferred promised funds.

By ABE SELIG
Hebrew university 224.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Hebrew university 224.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
The recently salvaged university semester may still be halted if funding that the Finance Ministry promised two weeks ago does not arrive soon, Committee of University Presidents Prof. Menachem Magidor warned on Sunday. "We hate to rain on the parade, but the danger of school stopping and [universities] closing is still present, in a real and immediate way," Magidor, who is also president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, wrote in a letter to faculty members. "Despite the prime minister's assurances, the money that will allow education is nowhere to be found. The Treasury is delaying its transfer, and has even conveyed in various ways that it does not intend to transfer [it]," he wrote. "Other budgets that the Finance Ministry promised in the past have [also] not reached us," Magidor said. The Committee of University Presidents sparked concerns over a strike - the third such disruption of classes in three years - when it sent an e-mail to students in early October, informing them that the academic year would not begin on November 2 as scheduled. Citing a lack of funds and the government's failure to implement recommendations made by the Shochat Committee - a government body appointed in 2006 to assess the future of higher education - the e-mail made clear the university presidents' willingness to bring the academic year to a standstill if the money in question was not forthcoming. But after days of uncertainty and several student protests, a last-minute agreement was reached in late October between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On, Education Minister Yuli Tamir and the university presidents. Now it seems, however, that the sigh of relief may have been premature. "We are in the same place we were two weeks ago," Magidor continued in his statement. "With every day that passes, we move closer to a situation in which the university [system] won't be able to function." "The Finance Ministry is probably counting on our fatigue and that of the public, but despite our fatigue, we have no other choice," the letter concludes. In a response the Finance Ministry said, "We will act in accordance with the agreement negotiated by the prime minister and respect the conditions of this agreement." However, no date for the transfer of funds was included in the ministry's response. The forum of university junior lecturers has also threatened to disrupt classes if agreements reached over the summer between the forum and the Committee of University Presidents on terms of employment are not implemented within a week. Junior lecturers are employed as external staff. They receive an hourly wage, and are only paid for eight months a year. They have no pension plan or social or academic benefits, such as eligibility for sabbaticals. The negotiations over the summer were supposed to take care of those issues; however, junior lecturers say the provisions laid out in those talks have yet to take shape. A two-hour disruption of classes, or "warning strike," was held by the junior lecturers on Thursday at Tel Aviv University, and the forum has made clear that such disruptions will continue, increasing in size and scope, until their agreements with the Committee of University Presidents are implemented. "This week we will continue our warning strikes at Bar-Ilan, Hebrew U. and in Haifa," a spokesman for the forum said. "If in two weeks' time from now, we haven't made any progress, we may go into what's called a 'light strike,' with even more class disruptions, and continue from there." Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.