Photo: Ondřej Deml, ČTK
Professors and faculty members at universities across the country are taking part in a nationwide warning strike on Tuesday to protest against the underfunding of various faculties and the worsening conditions for academic staff. To learn more about the strike and the demands made, I spoke with Vít Zdrálek, professor at the Faculty of Arts at Charles University in Prague.
“First, we call on the government to increase the total amount of funding for higher education, so that the share of spending on higher education in relation to GDP is comparable to those of other OECD countries, and this is after 15 years of decline. Secondly, we demand adequate pay for work in higher education, which in many cases does not reach the minimum decent wage, or the salaries guaranteed by law for primary and secondary school teachers. Thirdly, we demand that the reform of doctoral studies is completed as soon as possible, so that the undignified financial situation of doctoral students on which the future of our fields depends, is radically improved.”
See the rest here.
Author: Amelia Mola-Schmidt