In a joint venture in Dagens Industri 30 principals demand changes in the ownership directives for Akademiska hus. Swedish National Union of Students (SFS), Saco Student Council and Stockholm Student Union's central organization (SSCO) agrees that the company's operations have developed in a direction that does not promote education and research. The negative consequences of the form of ownership are competing with the benefits of a professional property owner for university premises.
Swedish higher education and research are predominantly financed by public funds, and that is good. Education and research are a matter for the whole of society. The transparency in which grants the state provides and the conditions for the activities must be great. The directive to Akademiska Hus to make a profit undermines transparency by means that funds that could go to research and education instead go back to the state-owned company.
The higher education institutions' conditions are different from what they appear to be because the profit is piled up within the real estate company and sometimes distributed to the state. It is unacceptable that the surplus is not reinvested in the business. In addition, there is an inefficient use of higher education funds.
However, the money that the government is now taking out of Akademiska Hus is not the one created through profits. The fact that the company's properties and buildings are valued at market value has led to the revaluation of the holding and thus the high equity ratio that the government is now adjusting. Of course, it is obvious that so much money is taken out of a company with such a strong connection to the university. But this is not where the shoe squeezes.
The assignment to Akademiska Hus forces higher education institutions to pay higher premises costs than they would need, with less left for teacher salaries and equipment as a result. One such task is to set principles of marketability before efficient use of state resources. Therefore, we agree with the principals' demands that the ownership directives or the form of ownership must be changed so that all possible surpluses return to the university's operations, which are not to rent premises but to educate and research.
Caroline Sundberg, President of the Swedish National Union of Students, SFS
Kristin Öster, Chairman of the Saco Student Council
Anna Wallgren, chairman Stockholm Student Union's central organization, SSCO