Unions tell government to avoid cuts

The Finnish government should ensure that structural changes in the higher education system focus on development and not just on reducing expenditure, unions have warned.

The Confederation of Unions for Professional and Managerial Staff, Akava, and the Rectors’ Conference of Finnish Universities of Applied Sciences issued a statement on 11 November. They said that the motivation for structural changes should be to increase cooperation between universities and universities of applied sciences and to promote diversity, and not to generate savings.

“Opportunities for cooperation should be sought with an open mind,” said Sture Fjäder, president of Akava. “The role of higher education institutions is to produce a wide range of expertise and not savings.”