DEBATE, the article was published in Lundagård 5/2 2021. Read the article on lundagard.se here
An increasing proportion of resources go to research. Many researchers work disconnected from the education and have hardly any teaching time anymore, writes Simon Edström, chairman of the Swedish National Union of Students.
It is easy to miss the big but long-term changes that are taking place at universities. Everyone's eyes are on the corona pandemic and the transition to digital education. Decisions on more lasting structural changes are overshadowed.
Such a change can be seen in the research bill that the government presented just before the turn of the year. The research bill paves the way for higher education policy for several years to come. Among other things, it contains an increase in research grants of SEK 3,4 billion.
We students can benefit in several ways from the increase in research grants. It is at the core of the universities that research and education belong together. Our teachers are researchers. If they do not have plenty of time to do research, they can not stay up to date on the research front. Therefore, research grants are a necessity for all education.
We students can are also positively affected by investments in research infrastructure. Large projects such as MAX IV and ESS may not always be used by students in the first place. On the other hand, they contribute to creating attractive research environments and attract prominent researchers. This can lead to us students meeting teachers with absolute cutting-edge competence.
But that presupposes that research and education may continue to belong together. Unfortunately, there is a proportional shift in higher education funding. An increasing proportion of resources go to research. Many researchers work disconnected from the education and have hardly any teaching time anymore.
The long-term trend is that we students have to make do with less. Between the years 2000 and 2019, the appropriations for education have been reduced from SEK 114 to SEK 104 per student, adjusted for inflation. If one takes into account the development during the 1990s and takes into account that the costs of higher education institutions have increased more than the costs in other areas of society, the total loss of resources will be even greater.
We as students need to take this seriously. One consequence of the reduction in resources for education is that the number of teacher-led hours per week will be fewer, or that there will be more students per teacher. This means that we receive less support and are expected to manage more on our own.
It affects study results, but it does not stop there. Even before the pandemic, the problems of stress and high workload were common among students. These are factors that contribute to students having more problems with mental illness than others of the same age.
Now it sets rapid transition to digital teaching new requirements. When there is a lack of resources for the educations, no one should be surprised if the teachers do not have time. But it affects the quality of our education.
It certainly has come some resources in recent years. But they have mainly gone to extra training places. It is partly about meeting a higher search pressure during the corona pandemic, partly it is part of a long-term ambition that more people will have access to higher education. That is a sympathetic ambition. However, more places do not solve the need for quality reinforcements.
Now the resources are needed to increase education, so that research and education do not fall apart. In the coming years, the application pressure to the university will probably decrease. A simple solution for the government will then be to maintain the current funding levels despite the number of students falling. It would provide space for digital conversion, a healthier study environment and higher quality education.
Simon Edstrom
Chairman of the Swedish National Union of Students