Editorial
Regional and Structural
Policy through Education
Education and research are of interest within the sphere of politics at
the moment. Before the parliamentary elections, Center Party, the National
Coalition Party and the Finns Party each conveyed their interest
in the portfolio of Minister of Education. At the moment of writing this
text, the information concerning who receives this post is not yet available.
What we have, though, are the general definitions of policy by
these three Parties.
Innovations and economic growth are sought through education
and learning, but there is also a more straightforward reason for this
interest in know-how: structural and regional policies. In addition to
health care and social services, education and research constitute the
most expensive services within the public sector. The manner in which
these are arranged has an effect on many people in various areas.
Many of those who voted for the Center Party surely wish that the
Party would support the provinces. Center Party's views on the provinces
does have differences with the views of the National Coalition
Party, for instance. It is presumable that the Center Party will want to
secure a regionally comprehensive network of Universities.
The National Coalition Party has proposed that a sum as high as one
billion euros would be used for additional capitalization of Universities
as a counterpart to private donations. It is no secret, that those Universities
that are important to the economic life of large cities have won the
competition for private funding.
It may well be that the 'balance of terror' in the science policy of
the future will settle itself somewhere between the views of the center
Party, which is concerned about the provinces and the National Coalition Party, which acts in favor of centers of growth.
The views of the Finns Party on regional equality and
stable basic funding are interesting, but have not yet
been implemented.
The colour of the Minister's party card is of importance
now. For instance, the experiments dismantling
the dual model of Universities have been received with
more frowns in the National Calition Party than in the
Center Party. The Minister of Education does not make
all the decisions, however, as science policy is in the
process of becoming more tightly connected to the
strategic guidance of the government. This development
brings with it operators such as Ministry of Employment
and Economy and the renewed Research and
Innovation Council.
To what extent will the adjustments of the public
sector be directed at Universities? Some people think
that it is mainly the networks of high schools and Univesities
of applied sciences that will become targets
of cuts this time. Others have heard complaints about
Universities not having been sufficiently active in the
economic endeavors so far.
Be that as it may, the public research funding
in Finland has no longer developed in line with the
competitor countries in recent years. Also, the cuts
directed on the University index have in practice reduced
basic funding. Activities have been adjusted to
the economic situation and there have been employee
cooperation negotiations. According to the new salary
registers, there has already been negative development
in the salaries of some jobs. It seems that this is due to
the fact that new employees are nowadays paid less
than before.
The continuous calling on of risks does not help
anyone, but it seems evident that there is some kind
of lack of ideas in Finland. The industry has difficulties
in exporting their products. According to some indicators,
the level of science in Finland has also fallen during
the 2000s.
In the minds of many researchers, the years during
which science is said to have suffered are precisely
the years of continuous organizational turmoil. Could
these matters be connected to each other?
Lots of leverage has been used to create great
changes, but the matters of a single employee are easily
left in a bad way. People are jumping from one job
to another and manufacturing applications for funding.
The beginnings and ends of projects become entagled
with one another. Under these circumstances
leadership and management also become demanding.
Unemployment or the threat of it are a burden to the
self-esteem of many employees. Can a machine that is
put together of these kinds of components have a good
operating efficiency?
Good science does not require new organizational
manglings or the measuring of people with new indicators.
Nor does it demand the subjugation of research
by industrial policy. It merely needs a sufficient
amount of funding, enough peace at the work place
and gradually developing self-confidence — and, following
these, also new ideas and innovations.
22.5.2015
Petri Koikkalainen
Chair, The Finnish
Union of University
Researchers and Teachers
- Painetussa lehdessä sivu 40
|