2023-09-11 07:34:00
At the microphone of LN24, in the program “Coffee without filter”, the Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation took stock of the priorities and ambitions of the Community in terms of higher education.
Is the current funding of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation too low?
While the rectors of Walloon and Brussels universities believe they have to make do with underinvestment from the FWB, Pierre-Yves Jeholet recalls that his government has “already loosened the purse strings under this legislature, which no longer had been done for a very long time”: “We have refinanced higher education to the tune of 80 million euros from 2024, that is to say on an annual basis. And then, and this is an observation, the finances of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation are what they are. ”The 300 million euros claimed? “It’s too much ! It is not possible.”
One question remains: review the financial means and the very structures of the FWB, knowing in particular that funding for higher education fell by 24.3% in 15? “I am in favor of being more effective and efficient in the policies we pursue. We have been investing too much public money for years and years in housing, training and education policies. […] We need to restructure. ” How ? “By reducing public spending in a series of sectors and rationalizing others. ”
Is the over-representation of foreign students in Wallonia and Brussels a problem?
To this question, the response from the Minister-President of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation is clear: “It’s a problem. We settled it with the medical competition. The number of non-residents, particularly French people, has been limited to 15%. But we find ourselves in a Europe where there is mobility but where we also see more and more non-residents coming to study here without additional contribution. And that penalizes French-speaking students in Belgium. I am therefore open to further limiting (access to studies for foreign nationals, Editor’s note) or inviting them to contribute more with a higher fee than French-speaking students.”
To see if such proposals are compatible with European legislation.
How to make higher education more effective?
“We have a lot of universities for a small space. I am for healthy competition – it is necessary – but there are far too many authorizations over time,” believes Pierre-Yves Jeholet. “We have to live with the evolution of society: we have new needs. It is therefore normal that we can create new Masters. But you also have to have the courage to remove it. When I see the number of students entering psychology, with the few opportunities it offers on the job market, we have to ask ourselves certain questions.”
For the liberal, the message is clear: “We must be more effective in a whole series of reforms. ”
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