The University is supporting the suggestion concerning the fees for certain international joint programmes proposed by the Ministry of Education and Research. This is something Sebastian Person, Deputy Head of the Student Unions of Lund University, reacts strongly against.
“The University should not support this,” he says.
Photo: Archive/Lukas Norrsell
The Ministry of Education and Research is proposing that Swedish students taking part in some international joint programmes pay a tuition fee, even studying at a Swedish university. The reason is that EU rules state that students should be treated equally throughout the Union, at the same time Swedish higher education should be free. Swedish universities now face a risk of being excluded from international joint programmes. Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Research suggests that Swedish universities ought to be allowed to charge students for taking part in some joint programmes where it is required.
“We are critical of how the process has been handled and an evaluation should have been done much earlier. This proposal doesn’t solve the fundamental problem and we need to take better care of our Swedish students taking part in exchange programmes,” says Eva Wiberg prorector at Lund University.
The Student Unions of Lund University are very critical of the fees. What do you think about their statement?
“I understand the frustration but we need an emergency solution to make ends meet.”
What alternative solutions have you discussed?
“We have looked at how they facilitate internationalisation for the universities in Finland. But we still believe that education should be free,” says Eva Wiberg.
Photo: Jonas Jacobson.
Incalculable consequences
The Student Unions of Lund University are still very critical of the proposal of the Ministry of Education and Research. Sebastian Persson, Deputy Head of the Student Unions of Lund University, thinks that the economic situation of the students is extenuated.
“Fees result in less privileged students not being able to take part in the programmes and lead to a less diversified recruitment. There is also a risk of less students getting international elements in their education, which effects the quality,” says Sebastian Persson.
What is your reaction against the statement of Lund University?
“It’s problematic. They are critical of it but support it anyway, which we criticise. Both the university and we see it as an emergency solution and we would like to see a more comprehensive solution instead. Therefore the university shouldn’t have supported the proposal.”
“This can also be a continuation of the fees for the international students. The government are expanding the fees for education more and more, and nobody knows what consequences it could have,” says Sebastian Persson.
What is your solution?
“If free education and internationalisation is important for the government they have to show that. The university could pay for it instead of the individual student through, for example, government appropriations. That would be the most reasonable thing to do,” says Sebastian Persson.
Text: Carl-Johan Kullving
Translation: Mia Söllwander
READ MORE: The Game of Fees
