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Today
Polls
. "Almost half of respondents in a new poll have backed student protests (pictured: the occupied Audimax auditorium in Vienna Universitty).")
RSS Feed General News02. 11. 09. - 16:00
Almost half back student protests
By David Rogers
Almost half of respondents in a new poll have backed student protests.
Forty-two per cent of those asked in a new poll by Klagenfurt’s Humaninstitut whose results were released today (Mon) said that student protests were justified.
Twenty eight per cent said they were not and a third of the 850 people questioned had no opinion.
In the poll only 22 per cent said graduates of universities or other institutions of higher education had a good chance of finding suitable jobs, whereas 61 per cent said they had little chance of doing so.
Businessmen, professors, journalists and politicians in 75 interviews said there were parallels between protests in the 1960s and current student unrest.
Ninety-one per cent of the experts said students had a need for better education given anxiety about the future, and 84 per cent said student protests were a reason to fight for new educational goals.
Meanwhile, Austrian students are continuing protest activities across the country.
Students at universities in Salzburg, Graz, Linz and Vienna are campaigning against over-crowding and under-financing of their institutions.
And others who have occupied the Audimax – the biggest auditorium at Vienna University –claim higher education must be available to young people from all social groups and access to it must not depend on wealth.
Study fees were abolished last autumn only days before an early general election took place. All parties represented in Parliament – except the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP) – joined forces to bring the fees, introduced by an FPÖ (Freedom Party)-ÖVP government in 2001, to an end.
Austrian universities have been confronted with what some call a "stampede" of foreign students, especially from Germany, as that country has strict course quota rules to prevent the number of students exceeding certain limits.
The Austrian Students Union (ÖH) always opposed the fees, arguing they would increase social gaps in society and were a barrier to higher education for the poor. But the ÖVP – who currently form a government with the Social Democrats (SPÖ) – dismiss this argument.
ÖVP whip Karlheinz Kopf said: "The study fees ensure quality standards as far as, for example, the universities’ equipment is regarded. No one is barred from receiving the best possible education as those who cannot afford the fees get financial support."
SPÖ whip Josef Cap dismissed Kopf’s argument. Cap said in a discussion on Ö1 radio: "I support the students in what they do – making people aware of a bad situation. They draw attention and they have every right to do so.
"You could argue not all the actions they took were wise – like occupying an auditorium – but I agree with their view of what the problems at universities are. It is a fact that the universities got too little money from the former government, and we will now do everything we can to improve the situation and find a solution."
ÖH heads Thomas Wallerberger and Sigi Maurer explained the recent protests, saying: "The students have had enough," stressing they were unhappy about the "catastrophic circumstances students are confronted with when studying at Austrian universities."
They criticised the "constant threat of new restrictions" and called for a new structure of the Bachelor/Master studying system as well as for the abolition of study fees for people from non-EU countries.
Organisers of the occupation of the Vienna University’s Audimax claimed their topics as presented on the online platform "Uni brennt!" (The University’s on Fire) – http://unibrennt.at – had become one of the most popular websites on social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.
ÖVP Vice Chancellor Josef Pröll rebuked protesting students today (Mon), saying he had had enough of "blockades."
Protesting and keeping other students from studying was the wrong course, he said on the fringes of the swearing-in of Josef Pühringer as ÖVP Upper Austrian governor at Vienna’s Hofburg.
Pröll added, however, that it was clear that dialogue was needed.
Austrian Times
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universities education student Austrian course social Vienna students confronted studying University auditorium fees protests represented poll government Kopf argument Josef
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