Last update - 00:00 23/02/2007
Tamir, students union announce cancellation of university strike
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
Education Minister Yuli Tamir and student organizations representatives on Saturday announced that the strike in higher education institutions, scheduled for Sunday, has been cancelled.
The announcement came after the two sides reached an agreement on tuition rates and the establishment of a new body to oversee tuition-related issues. The cost of the agreement is estimated at NIS 150 million.
The student representatives and Tamir on Saturday evening discussed the terms of a compromise they reached on Friday, according to which issues relating to tuition fees will be overseen by an independent nine-member committee headed by Dr. Liora Meridor, formerly a senior official at the Bank of Israel.
Meridor currently heads the Shochat Committee subcommittee on tuition fees.
In addition to Meridor, four student representatives will serve on the committee. Four additional committee members will include a representative from the Finance Ministry.
Thus, according to the compromise, students will not have a majority within the committee.
The student representatives waived their demand to fully implement the 2001 Winograd committee recommendation to decrease tuition fees by 25 percent, despite it being their foremost demand. According to the compromise, tuition fees will be frozen and will remain at their current annual rate ? NIS 8,588.
Additionally, starting next year students in private colleges will enjoy tuition reductions similar to those enjoyed by university students. The Winograd panel had recommended that tuition be decreased by 50 percent, but in effect, tuition fees have only been decreased by 26 percent in universities and not at all in colleges.
According to the agreement, private colleges will receive refunds on tuition fees from the government starting next year.
As a condition for canceling the strike, the students demanded NIS 1.4 billion be returned to the higher education budget, but according to the agreement reached Saturday between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Tamir, some budgets will be returned, but no amount was set.
The students waived their demands to increase the higher education budget and to reduce tuition fees.
Meanwhile, the Secondary Schools Teachers' Association announced Friday that in solidarity with the university students' strike, it would cancel classes in high schools on Sunday. Elementary and middle school classes will proceed as scheduled.
The details of the Shochat Committee's recommendations have not yet been finalized, but it is expected to publish interim recommendations at the end of April.
The committee source said that two "ironclad principles" have been formulated as guidelines for the recommendations: First, the tuition hike will be done in a way that will not prevent students who cannot afford the tuition from studying.
Second, the tuition hike will enable students who cannot currently afford higher education to attend institutions of higher education.
In addition to the tuition hike, the committee is expected to recommend the formation of a financial aid system for students. The extent of the financial support has yet to be determined, but it may include scholarships and loans with nominal interest rates.
"There will not be one person who wishes to study and has a matriculation certificate and a psychometric score, who will be excluded because of his economic situation," the source said.