A coalition of student associations, researchers, unions and leftist parties was born in French -speaking Switzerland to fight the 2027 budget reduction program of the Confederation. This Monday, she presented a common resolution on Monday and announced actions on the French -speaking and national campuses.
Doubling or even quadrupling of study taxes, decreased contributions to the National Research Fund, the Federal Council project will “worsen an already unbearable situation in view of the precariousness of people in training and researchers, and the inequality of access to higher education”, denounced Léa Ziegler, of the SSP Union before the press gathered in Lausanne.
The coalition is “firmly opposed to the cuttings of 460 million francs per year, wanted by the Federal Council in the field of training, research and innovation”, indicates the text of the resolution. “Our coalition defends the vision of a public training and research service that is of quality and accessible to all without discrimination,” continues the document.
Discriminatory taxes
For the coalition, this plan would only get the precarious situation of people in training and researchers.
According to the measures planned, the annual taxes of the University of Friborg would drop from 1440 to 2,880 francs for the Swiss, and from 1440 to 6960 francs for foreigners, said Léa Ziegler. In St-Gall, they would go from 2000 to 4000 francs for the Swiss and from 5,800 to 23,200 francs for foreigners. “This would create a xenophobic division between students and would select students with more financial capacity,” she insurgent.
Maxime Oswald, of the Federation of Student Associations of the University of Lausanne (UNIL), was worried about the growing increase in the number of precarious students, already faced with the increase in rents and costs of life, to which would be added the increase in study taxes.
Precarious researchers
The decline in the federal contribution to the Swiss National Fund for Scientific Research (FNS) would result in the abolition of positions and research projects. Cups well unwelcome according to the interested parties, as explained by Philipp Walch of the association of the intermediate body and doctoral students of the UNIL.
These cuts would also have direct consequences on education according to Antoine Chollet, researcher in political thought at the University of Lausanne and member of the Union of Public Services.
For Léa Ziegler, of the public service union, this program could not only affect the entire academic community but also the public community.
Clothe targeted
The resolution, supported by more than 30 organizations, will be sent to the Federal Council within the framework of the consultation procedure. It will also serve as a basis for informing the academic community of measures under discussion in Bern, as well as mobilizing on campuses and in the street, adds Léa Ziegler.
Actions will take place in the coming weeks in the universities of Geneva, Friborg, Lausanne and Neuchâtel. They will consist in particular in rallies and information stands. A student strike will take place in the Geneva Hes.
Although centered on French -speaking Switzerland, the coalition has relays in German -speaking Switzerland. A national action day is scheduled for this fall.
Army and AVS
For the record, the 59 savings measures proposed by the Federal Council aim to alleviate federal finances of 2.7 billion francs in 2027 and 3.6 billion francs in 2028. According to the government, their establishment is essential in particular to accelerate the increase in army resources and finance the contribution of the confederation to the AVS.
