Faculty failures - Haaretz

Subscribe to Print Edition

Thu., January 17, 2008 Shvat 10, 5768

Israel Time: 23:59 (EST+7)

web haaretz.com

Back to Homepage

Rosner's Domain

Diplomacy

Defense

Jewish World

Opinion

National

Print Edition

Advertising

Books

Arts & Leisure

Business

Real Estate

Easy Start

Travel

Week's End

Anglo File

Last update - 11:06 14/01/2008

Faculty failures

By Haaretz Editorial

Tags: Shochat committee, Israel

The failure of the talks with senior faculty, which ended yesterday with the university presidents' request to issue back-to-work orders to the strikers, attests to the management of the entire strike. The demands of the strikers were loosely based on the Shochat Committee report, which recommended among other things differential pay for lecturers, and on the claim that their wages have eroded. For both of these issues the faculty members could have garnered some public support, but they remained unconvincing.

The proposal to base the lecturers' wages on a differential scale that would foster "stars" according to clear-cut market parameters, is indeed controversial. The wages of senior faculty need to be raised, as per current labor agreements - especially of those who devote all their time to research and teaching, and do not, like some of their colleagues, use their positions as a springboard for business-related or other occupational purposes.

But beyond these two matters, serious problems are developing with respect to higher education and its future. Among these are the reduction in positions at the universities, the declining focus on humanities and research, the closure of departments that are not considered profitable, and failed management that has brought about a worrisome erosion in the level of the institutions in question. One of the most disquieting problems of all involves the employment of "external" staff - junior-level lecturers to whom the universities do not have positions to offer, who work for low pay and under conditions that do not allow them to develop professionally.

	Advertisement

The country's lecturers embarked on their strike at the height of the high-school teachers' strike. At the outset, they rejected the proposal to join the teachers in a joint fight for the improvement of education in Israel, and rightly lost points in terms of public support. They apparently forgot that teachers in the schools also were, and still are, an integral part of the higher education system, and that their professional level is also determined by the universities.

The lecturers insisted on focusing their dispute on one issue: their eroding salaries. None of the problems mentioned above won their attention. The more obstinate the strikers became during the talks, the less possible it was to raise public awareness about issues of higher education in all their depth and seriousness.

The strike appeared to be the struggle of a small sector, with the students, most of whom might lose a costly school year, being mainly the ones who lost out. For Israel's students, who in any case begin their studies much later than their counterparts abroad, this is an unreasonable and harmful situation.

Now, after they have rejected all compromise proposals, even the one the Finance Ministry approved (compensation of between 11 and 21 percent for wage erosion, with the exact percentage to be determined by arbitration), and after claiming they would not obey the back-to-work orders since they harm academic freedom - the strikers have lost legitimacy for their sanctions. The damage the strike has caused is greater than any wage increment which the lecturers would receive. The damage is not only material. In its wake, discourse on the status of higher education may not be heard for a very long time to come.

Bookmark to del.icio.us


	West Bank shooting
	Kiryat Sefer man, 40, sustains light to moderate wounds when terrorists open fire from passing car.


	Fighting words
	Barak vows to expand IDF operations against Qassam fire.




1.	Faculty failures	11:48	\|	Churchill	14/01/08

2.	It`s the economy, stupid	12:32	\|	Jeff	14/01/08

3.	Filled with errors	13:32	\|	Qwertyguy	14/01/08

4.	External staff: the real story	13:44	\|	TAU lecturer	14/01/08

5.	Check Before Spewing Treasury Propaganda	15:51	\|	A Lecturer	14/01/08

6.	This article displays reality	22:06	\|	TEA	17/01/08

7.	This article displays reality	22:10	\|	TEA	17/01/08

Today Online


	IAF strikes kill seven in Gaza; 40 Qassams fired at Israel
	Responses: 280


	Israel Harel: No point in talks if Arabs won't accept Jewish Israel
	Responses: 122


	Barak vows to expand IDF operations against Qassam fire
	Responses: 116


	Na'ama Sheffi: New talkback law does not hinder public dialogue
	Responses: 62


	Amy Winehouse mulls album of 'cool' Hanukkah hits
	Responses: 46

More Headlines
23:29 IAF strikes kill seven in Gaza; 40 Qassams fired at Israel


20:16 Israeli civilian wounded in West Bank shooting attack


21:30 Berlin Mayor, Jewish Council slam attack on Jewish teens


23:06 Barak vows to expand IDF operations against Qassam fire


20:37 Former Nazi guard loses Canadian deportation appeal


22:33 Canadian FM puts Israel, U.S. on torture watch list


22:10 Ahmadinejad: 'The Zionist regime' would not dare attack Iran


16:54 Hamas: Shalit in good condition, not in danger of being harmed


17:39 City in Czech Republic bans neo-Nazi march slated for weekend


18:42 Security forces thwart Jihad plan to bomb T.A.-Jerusalem railroad