Romania Govt Funding Cuts Anger Top Universities

Romania's Ministry of Education has angered the country's academics with a decision to cut funding for the country's top universities, which have been increasingly critical of government policies in the past year.

The ministry published a new decision on Tuesday obliging Romania's 56 state universities to reduce the number of students in the humanities, social sciences and business, and boost the number of students in technical fields, the automotive industry, tourism, IT, agriculture and pharmaceuticals.  

Minister of Education Valentin Popa told the media that the decision was taken as part of a governance strategy which was adopted in 2014 and is meant to adapt the education system to Romania's economic priorities.

But academics say that this was a politically-motivated move to punish them for criticising the government's education and research policies over the past year.

Academics at the Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca, Transylvania's main city, demanded more transparency in decision-making from the ministry.

"This is a heavy blow to the institutions that are making great efforts in increasing the quality of education and research [in Romania]," said a press release issued by the university on Wednesday.

The university is set to receive funds for 277 fewer students in 2018-19 than it had this year, despite the fact that the number of applicants has increased in recent years.

The university said it is determined to protest against the ministry decision until its demand for a revision of the funding decision is heard.

Marilen Pirtea, rector of Timisoara-based Western University, also one of the biggest in the country, told media that the new policy is set to encourage small "neighbourhood" universities to...