Finance Ministry, students commence tuition negotiations
Education minister declares students will receive NIS 100 million as 'confidence building measure,' State promises not to raise tuition for three years. Student unions not particularly hopeful, warn may resume protests
Representatives of the Council for Higher Education, the National Union of Israeli Students and the Finance Ministry convened Tuesday to announce negotiations on the restoring of funds to the higher education establishment.
Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that "as part of confidence building measures NIS 100 million will be transferred to the students." The parties agreed on a framework for negotiations to last between 60 and 90 days.
The sides have been holding meetings over the last few months in order to establish a general outline for talks. The national student union president approved the outline Monday which includes a student incentive – direct reimbursements totaling in NIS 100 million (roughly $27 million). Each student will thus receive NIS 700 ($187.09).
The outline also stipulated that the State will not change the tuition rate without the students' consent for a period of three years. Minister Sa'ar, who also acts as chairman of the Higher Education Council, said, "The parties have not reached an agreement regarding tuition, which will only be achieved through extensive negotiations."
Finance, education and student representatives convene (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Boaz Toporovsky, chairman of the National Student Union said, "We are talking about a higher education revolutionary reform and a three-year commitment from the State not to change tuition without student consent, even if we don't reach a detailed agreement."
Despite voting in favor of negotiations, students in the various unions are not particularly hopeful.
Gilad Bargil, chairman of the Bar-Ilan University Student Union noted that "the Finance Ministry has made promises in the past which it did not keep and the cutbacks gravely damaged higher education."
A source at the Tel Aviv student body added that "Finance officials' media announcements regarding the students' consent to a tuition increase are false and malicious." The source further noted that should the government's childish behavior continue the students will revert back to protests.
