"Unprofessional and aimless": Higher education reform in Bavaria meets with broad criticism from the opposition
Created: 07/21/2022, 20:05
By: Tanja Kipke
The majority of the CDU and Free Voters pushed through the controversial university reform.
There is a lot of criticism from the opposition.
Munich – The debate about the university reform in Bavaria had dragged on for several years.
After a lot of arguments and heated discussions, the CDU and Free Voters have now prevailed thanks to their majority in the state parliament and officially decided on the university reform.
The opposition is loudly critical.
Science Minister Markus Blume (CSU) is noticeably proud of the university reform that has now been passed.
He speaks of a "mammoth project" with which Germany's most modern university law was created.
Higher education reform in Bavaria: state government wants to achieve "top level".
The new Higher Education Innovation Act is intended to help future-proof the scientific landscape in Bavaria for the coming decades and to achieve top international standards.
At least that's the government's goal.
The aim is to achieve this by giving universities more organizational freedom - including in the use of funds and the construction of new buildings.
The majority of the CSU and Freie Wahler pushed through the university reform in Bavaria - under much criticism from the opposition.
(icon picture).
© imagebroker / IMAGO
The university apparatus should be debureaucratized.
As a result, professors can be appointed more quickly, according to the theory.
And finally, professors and employees alike should be able to invest in companies more easily or better support spin-offs.
Also new is the possibility for universities to introduce tuition fees for students from non-EU countries - but a general return to tuition fees is not planned.
Contrary to what was planned in the meantime, the organizational framework of the universities will remain in place.
By refraining from innovations at this point, the state government was able to resolve the dispute over the law, which had become deadlocked in the meantime.
The new set of rules is now scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2023, with a significant delay.
Opposition sharply criticizes university reform
The science and university policy spokeswoman for the Greens, Verena Osgyan, criticized, among other things, the possible tuition fees for non-EU foreigners.
Christian Flisek (SPD) called the entire legislative process unprofessional and aimless - the universities were unnecessarily unsettled.
Ingo Hahn (AfD) complained about the "commercialization" and "commercialization" of the universities.
Wolfgang Heubisch (FDP), on the other hand, criticized the reform as discouraged - it does not deserve the name innovation law.
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Higher education reform in Bavaria: Praise from the professors
According to a press release from the Bavarian University of Applied Sciences, the Presidents of the Bavarian Universities of Applied Sciences (HAW) welcome the "Approval of the Bavarian University Innovation Act".
Prof. Dr.
Walter Schober, the chairman of the Bavarian University of Applied Sciences and president of the TH Ingolstadt praises the "balanced mixture of personal responsibility, strategic ability to act and opportunities for participation".
After a long and intensive discussion process, in which everyone concerned had their say, a positive result has now been found, the press release continues.
Schober is particularly pleased about the possibility of doing his own doctorate at research-intensive institutions and the new career opportunities - including the top professorship as a new career path.
But not everyone is so happy with the university reform.
(fhz with dpa)
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