KSU calls for more financial autonomy for University and need for non-state funding

In its official reaction to Monday’s budget speech, KSU expressed its concern that government’s fiscal consolidation was not brought about through sufficiently strong measures.

“The budget can be seen as reactionary, and very cautiously so. Most of the measures set to be introduced, amongst which the budgeted increase for investment in health services and the new car scrapping scheme, should serve to provide some tangible benefits to society as a whole. The policy that the government seems to be adopting towards the use of energy efficient vehicles is also one that will surely reap some long-term benefits to society as a whole.”

The KSU said a €3.5 million investment in the University of Malta was “commendable”. However it said additional investment in the university would be taken up by the greater cost required for the greater number of people attending university. “Even if investment has increased overall, the cost of provision of higher education has also increased… this increase may not be entirely sufficient for the infrastructure required by the University to cater for the increased number of students.”

KSU recently proposed that an interest-free loan for students attending Erasmus programmes, and presented a detailed report showing the cost of the plan would be minimal, relative to the benefits to be reaped from the students.

“Unfortunately, this proposal was not taken into consideration… it was only the main proposal for greater investment that was heeded to, from all of the 22 proposals from the KSU Pre-budget Document.”

KSU said the university required s greater financial autonomy from government funding, upon which it almost exclusively relies at present.

“KSU believes that government funds cannot and should not be the only source of funding for university. Such a situation cannot remain indefinitely sustainable… this investment should be coupled with more investment from third parties and diversification in the university’s sources of direct revenue, without undermining the autonomy of the academia.”