The students are protesting the Education Minister Mariastella Gelmini’s proposed bill. The bill reorganizes the governance of institutions and will result in many universities closing and university professors losing their jobs. Additionally, students are protesting the cuts in funding imposed by Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti. The bill will be voted on Tuesday.
Currently, Italy is in an economic downturn, government spending is tight and it will be difficult for the ministry to avoid cutting the education budget. Similar protests against education cuts are happening right now in Austria, England, the U.S. and other countries. So can countries afford the modern cost of higher education? They most certainly can! Governments' budget can often afford many luxuries, but education is always given the short end of the stick. The suggested education reform does not target the true problems at the universities. The very existence of Italian universities is now at stake.
Check out this link directory:
World Advocacy- Education
Sources: New York Times, La Repubblica, Youtube
What protests are taking place on this scale in the US? Aside from the rally to restore sanity and/or fear and the occasional happening at Berkley, nothing really.
ReplyDeleteThis is Russ by the way. You'd be surprised what you find on facebook news feed. Also, you should make your pen name on this bolg "rat bastard".
Why are they implementing this policy? It would appear as though the reform would save government money during a time when many European countries are fledgling under the strain of world wide economic problems. Greece went bankrupt because it didn't implement these kinds of policy and France is trying to put more conservative policies in place to save their country from this sort of bankruptcy. I'm not saying the policy is right or wrong but there is another side to this story.
ReplyDeletePeople look at the United States and gasp at how much money we pay for education, yet it's a completely different system than that of many European countries. We have institutions that are losing their educational value simply because everybody can go to school if they can afford it. Think about it... also, do you know anyone who has been lazy as hell in high school and 1)gotten an amazing SAT score or 2) been a complete dumbass and basically had their parents BRIBE a school to get accepted? Erm, yes...
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't work that way in England, France, Germany, Scandinavia, etc. where you really need to WORK HARD to get into school. In that case you reap the benefits of cheap, excellent education, but unfortunately things will probably start to resemble the more private system of the U.S. ~nk
Russ, check out: http://vimeo.com/10696755 and http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=0c638e6be15ca8a2bcc8068f414def9a
ReplyDeleteTo respond to the second posted comment, education reform policies are being implemented because Italy is strapped for cash - they have to cut spending across the board (including education). Reforms may certainly be necessary, but not in the sense where the education budget is arbitrarily cut, which is essentially suggested to be done. The true problem is spending is not effectively allocated to education programs.