The government is moving towards passing the bill on private universities.
It will try to do so in spite of the open question about the constitutionality of the institutional provision, which was also pointed out by the Scientific Council of the Parliament, in conflict with the expressed position of all public universities, through their governing bodies, and despite the unanimous POSDEP’s reaction but also the opposition expressed not only in assemblies but also in all opinion polls by the students themselves but also by the youth as a whole.
Regarding this particular issue, the parliamentary majority and the polling “dominion” against an opposition that remains in a strategic – and in some cases also organizational – crisis, cannot disguise that the government’s choice is not only polarizing but also essentially minority.
Even the apparent opinion poll support of private universities (which does not exceed the threshold of 50%…) concerns the idea of the non-state university in general and not the positive evaluation of the “colleges” already in operation, nor, much less, the announcement to universities of private schools that will operate purely under the terms of an “educational market”, offering – to those who can pay – the bypass of national examinations.
Any passage of the bill is not going to close the debate around this issue.
I am not only referring to the fact that the attempt to operate the specific private schools will be challenged at every step before the courts.
Mainly I want to underline that the rift that has been opened by the institutionally violent attempt to institutionalize an option that obviously does not have the essential legalization is not going to be closed.
In a country where access to higher education on terms that do not favor wealth has been a structural aspect of a larger social contract, this arrangement will continue to be viewed by wider sections of society as an act of hostility.