Declaration of the Czech University of Life Sciences on the support of the token strike prepared by the University Trade Union and the actions of the Hour of Truth initiative to support adequate financing of tertiary education.
As CZU representatives, we are aware of the complexity of the situation in the Czech Republic at the time of the necessary consolidation of public finances, and we welcome the promise of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports to maintain or slightly increase the current funds in the state budget for tertiary education for next year. At the same time, however, for many years, we have been dealing with long-term underfunding of tertiary education in the Czech Republic from public funds when the real contribution, even in view of the high inflation of recent years, is continuously decreasing and on the contrary, the operating expenses of universities are increasing.
In this financial situation, ensuring the necessary development of the university or adequate remuneration of academic staff and doctoral students is impossible. This can gradually threaten the stability and functioning of the entire tertiary education system, also due to the outflow of key workers. Therefore, further development, increasing the quality of education and thus the overall competitiveness of the Czech Republic in the international context is not possible without a fundamental and through a medium-term outlook predictable increase in financial resources, preferably by increasing the share of expenditure on higher education in relation to GDP and bringing it at least to the OECD average.
To express the unity and legitimacy of the demands with other universities and their faculties, we at CZU join the protest event held on 17th October 2023 from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Information about the upcoming events is available, for example, on the website of the CZU University Trade Union - https://vos.czu.cz
Prof. Ing. Petr Sklenička, CSc.; Rector of CZU
Ing. Radim Kotrba, Ph.D.; President of CZU Academic Senate
Ing. Zdeněk Votruba, Ph.D.; President of University Trade Union