07 Mai 2007

Studiengebühren

This term, students at Heidelberg University have to pay tuition fees for the first time in history. Last term, this caused numerous protest actions, calls for boycotting, and other signs of discontentment. Apparently, the university administration did take these seriously to some degree: now, whenever a library extends its opening hours or some similar improvement is mentioned, it is phrased as 'thanks to the tuition fees you are paying, we can now offer you this service'.

Of course, students are still complaining, since the main problem area (shortage of teaching staff, especially in the humanities) has not yet seen any improvement. This is in part due to an interesting law, which says that the universities, being state-funded institutions, have to admit a certain number of students, based on their estimated capacity. So hiring extra staff means having to admit more students. I'm curious how and when this problem is going to be solved...

3 Comments:

Blogger Tijmen said...

as a temporary american i must now conclude that apparently being government-paid isn't all that you'd hope for either, bc you get such crazy rules with it

07.05.07, 20:25  
Blogger Olivier said...

:) 'Tis most true, even the government isn't perfect. Your reaction still sounds fairly European-based, though, for an American.
Of course, as a permanent European, I could cite many examples of countries where it does work, and I could argue that this rule is a consequence of market-oriented thinking in government circles. But in any case, it's a stupid rule.

08.05.07, 18:53  
Blogger Tijmen said...

mistaken market-oriented thinking in government circles is to be blamed on the government, not on the market

maar goed, ik weet ook wel dat het ook heel goed kan werken

09.05.07, 03:02  

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