We Doubled University Of Malta’s Budget In 10 Years, Minister Says After Budget Cut Controversy
Education Minister Clifton Grima has sought to allay fears over a €1.1 million cut to the University of Malta’s budget by recounting how the government has doubled the tertiary institution’s budget over the past decade.
“This Government is and will continue to invest record amounts in the University of Malta,” a spokesperson for Grima told Lovin Malta. “In fact, it has increased its allocation to the University yearly.”
“Considering that the allocation in the 2012 budget under the previous administration was €49,650,000, and the allocation in this year’s budget was €89,320,000, this has nearly doubled in a span of 10 years.”
“The Ministry for Education will remain committed to keep students a top priority, providing them with the best possible education at all education levels.”
Earlier today, University Rector Alfred Vella announced that the institution’s recurrent budget for this year has been reduced by around €1.1 million as part of a government cost-cutting exercise.
“As one may readily appreciate, this is a significant amount given that most of our budget is committed to salaries (85%) and essential services (10%) such as utilities, cleaning, periodical subscriptions and software licenses,” Vella wrote in an internal email.
“Not much will be left over to manoeuvre various other needs or improvements.”
He added that indications show the University’s budget won’t increase in the year following the cut, meaning its recurrent budget reduction will increase to between €3-5 million when taking into account salary increases and inflation. The Rector also warned that a reduction is expected in the University’s research budget, although this has not been confirmed.
The government has embarked on a cost-cutting exercise to bring down the national deficit and ensure the sustainability of ongoing energy subsidies but the announcement that one of the first signifiant cuts will be in the education sector was met with criticism.
PN education spokesperson Justin Schembri criticised the government for “wasting money while denying the University the necessary operational and research funds”.
“In its budget, they told us that this is the ‘Malta we want for our children’ but this was just propaganda of a lying government that doesn’t truly care about our children. The government has decided to turn the University of Malta into beggars,” Schembri said.
Cover photo: Education Minister Clifton Grima (second from right) and University Rector Alfred Vella (first from right) launching Science in the City earlier today. Photo: University of Malta
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