With the University of Buenos Aires in "savings mode", with faculties that turn off the lights and limit the use of elevators to spend less electricity, due to the freezing of the budget at 2023 values, the Government announced on Thursday night online social X (ex Twitter) that an increase was agreed
for the university system.
But on the side of the rectors they denounce that
the agreement never existed
, that it was only a proposal. The fact is that
half of the funds that the universities claim
will be sent .
They accuse the official announcement of trying
to stop the national march called for Tuesday
by the faculties themselves in support of the UBA.
"There was no agreement, there was a proposal from the government, informally, where they committed to
correcting 25% of the adjustment of the operating expenses
of the universities," responded that same night, also by X, Emiliano Yacobitti, the vice-rector. from the UBA.
In the messages from the account of the Ministry of Human Capital - just after a massive symbolic hug to the Hospital de Clínicas, which reduced its operation to 30% and suspended surgeries due to lack of supplies - it was announced that Ayrse ordered a 70% increase for last March, bringing the allocation for operating expenses to
$10,075,851,995
per month, and another 70% for May, reaching
$14,224,732,213.
It is a 140% increase over the base allocation of $5,926,971,777 per month.
In addition, there will be an extraordinary amount to meet the needs of the university hospitals of
$14,403,479,661
.
What does the updated budget cover?
Why was there no agreement?
"Last night (Thursday) hours before they went out on the networks, we were informed that there were possibilities that the Government could propose this increase.
There was no agreement because there is no open negotiation.
I wish we had agreed on a schedule on how to reach
280% increase in the expense budget
with which we began the year,"
Víctor Moriñigo, president of the National University Council (CIN), responds to
Clarín .
"We are with this announcement of a 140% increase.
They have not paid any of that to date.
And the request was always 280%. We are halfway there," says Moriñigo, adding that, with a view to the March 23 march, April, "which is sustained", operating expenses are not the only thing with which the UBA has problems: "Salary is very important and workers are behind inflation very far in percentage."
The rector of the National University of San Luis clarified that of the total budget of the universities, only 10% corresponds to operating expenses, while 90% is consumed by salaries. "The increases announced by the ministry (70 + 70) are only on operating expenses," he stressed.
How do you reach the 280% increase required by the UBA?
"The inflation in 2023 was 211% and that of 2024, 60%. Hence the calculation," says Moriñigo.
Matías Ruiz is the Secretary of the Treasury of the UBA and explains to
Clarín
why the numbers of the new funds for the universities are not closed.
"We did the annualized calculation, after the Government's announcement, and we see that, since the retroactive data of the previous months are not included,
the ministry is totally far from inflation if it talks about giving 140%
. Inflation is of the order of 300 %. This for the UBA implies a cut of 61% of what we had for Education and Health," describes Ruiz.
Operating expenses, as explained by the Rectorate, represent only 10% of the university budget. The other 90% are salaries, which, they point out, continue to lose 35% since December, compared to inflation.
On Thursday the unions rejected the
Ministry of Education's salary proposal of an 8% increase.
Regarding university hospitals, the UBA explained that the items remain without updating with respect to 2023, despite the fact that
health inflation is higher than general inflation
.
Returning to the 140% offered in the official proposal, the university estimates that "70% for March and 70% for May, not retroactive, imply an annualized update of only 105% compared to an average inflation of 300% in the sector." of operating expenses".
Other items coexist with operating expenses, and are additional funds. One corresponds to Technology in Education, another to Technology in Research. "They have been stopped since December, as have the works that were being developed in various faculties," Ruiz closes.