By instituting regular parliamentary scrutiny regarding the work of the Polytechnic School, the Plenary Assembly proceeded to vote on the Budget of the University of Cyprus for 2022, with 40 votes in favour and 3 votes against.
The proposal on behalf of the DIPA for a note that will provide for quarterly updates to the Education Committee[/B] of the Parliament on the progress of the work of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Cyprus.
The budget of the University of Cyprus for 2022, as shown in the report of the Education Committee, is balanced and provides for an expenditure of €163.640,000 and income of the same amount.
The University's income comes from the government grant (€59,200,000) and the government grant for projects from European Investment Bank and Council of Europe Development Bank loans (€20,000,000), from research projects (€31,000,000), from undergraduate tuition fees (€18,000,000), from funding for structural programmes and projects (€909.092), from projects and plans co-financed by Community funds (€1,830,000 and €1,000,000), from funding through the cooperation between the OCYPY and the University of Cyprus for the Faculty of Medicine (€1,500,000), from the Recovery and Resilience Plan (€196.200 and €476,020), from the food allowance to eligible students of the University of Cyprus (€525,000), from funding to provide government scholarships to beneficiaries (€140,000), from contributions, donations, grants, etc. (€1,526,845), from postgraduate tuition fees (€2,784,707), from consultancy services (€1,108,620) and from the revenue reserve (€18,522,000).
During the debate that preceded the vote in the House, special mention was made of the repeated postponement of the completion of the University of Cyprus School of Engineering project, as well as the prospect of establishing a university school in Larnaca, which was presented as stumbling in the cost calculation[/B]. Alongside the Budget, an amendment was tabled on behalf of Alekos Tryfonidis, MP for the DPA, for the quarterly briefing of the Education Committee on the progress of the Polytechnic School project.
DIPA MP, Marinos Mousiuttas, praised the work carried out by the University of Cyprus, while referring to the four extensions granted to the completion of the School of Engineering (originally estimated for 2019), he said that "the necessary parliamentary scrutiny must be exercised and the phenomenon of ruthlessness, abuse or even waste of public money and the violation of society's sense of justice must be stopped".
ELAM MP Sotiris Ioannou said that "it is shameful, mockery and disrespectful what happened regarding the school that should have been established in Larnaca" and added that "the rectorate arbitrarily decided to revoke the political decision without presenting any study". He also said that the political decision still stands and that there is the possibility of establishing a University School in Larnaca, "at a lower cost than that presented by the leadership of the University of Cyprus". He also referred to the case of MEP Niyazi Kiziljirek, saying that "illegally for more than two years the leadership of the University of Cyprus granted him a leave without pay". He argued that the reason why the MEP was not dismissed from the day of his election was because of his origin. He also raised the issue of the supplementary budget of about €1.5 million, due to misleading information to the Parliament, for a €26,000 project. He said he was in favour of supporting public universities, but stressed that some "are turning the University of Cyprus into a place to serve party interests, political advancement and an instrument of corruption".
AKEL MP Andreas Pasiourtides spoke of an "artful attempt by the President of the Republic to shift the responsibility for the wreck of the creation of the School of Marine Sciences in Larnaca to the University of Cyprus". As he said, "the commitment to create the school was made by the President four times and the cancellation came in a letter from the Ministry of Education on 15/2/22". He added that according to the Rector of the University, if there is funding, the school will be established and recalled the President's statement that "decisions cannot be changed depending on who is in the rectorate". Finally, he said that the former Minister of Education had also set a timetable and implementation costs of €100 million, over a period of ten years.
The issue of the establishment of a University School in Larnaca was also mentioned by the MP of the EPP, Andreas Apostolou, saying that a commitment had been given in Larnaca by the University of Cyprus, which seems to have been broken. He called, on this occasion, for the University of Cyprus to realize its role in the development of all regions of Cyprus. He praised the work carried out at the Cancer Research Institute of the University of Cyprus and pointed out the importance of the employment of 150 researchers, many of whom are being repatriated for this purpose.
As one of the vulnerabilities of public universities today, DIKO MP Chrysanthos Savvidis mentioned the delay in the completion of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Cyprus. "We do not want to see wrong costings," he said in relation to the prospect of establishing a University School in Larnaca, stressing that this does not indicate seriousness on the part of the authorities.
For his part, DIKO MP, Chairman of the Education Committee, Pavlos Mylonas, underlined as a serious problem the fact that public universities pay a lot of money in rents. "It is a problem and a challenge in this difficult period that millions are given in rents," he said. Regarding the salaries of academics, he said that we cannot ask the people for austerity, but some people should be exempted. He also said that the issue of the Faculty of Engineering is before the Audit Office as a scandal. He urged the Universities to respond to the persistent demand of remote areas, such as Tallis Tower, for support. Finally, he expressed his agreement with the amendment tabled by the DIPA.
AKEL MP Christos Christofides noted that the decision on the €1.6 million supplementary budget was not approved. "it was taken by the Rector's Council, which is appointed by the President of the Republic", while regarding the Faculty of Engineering, he recalled that when the new rectorate of the University of Cyprus took over at the end of 2018, the project should have been nearing completion, but not even 40% of it had been completed. He made special reference to the understaffing of the medical school and the lack of a university clinic and raised the question why there is such a lack of support and sensitivity on this issue.
Finally, DISY MP Prodromos Alambritis, speaking about the University School of Larnaca, referred to a setback, which resulted from different cost estimates, he said. He referred to the 2019 study, which predicted costs of €100 million, as it included buildings and equipment of €80 million. "We need to have an explanation through economic data for the jump in costs to this number," he said, adding that the Ministry of Education has announced that the project is not being abandoned. "We will monitor developments to see who is responsible," he said. In closing, he expressed support for the amendment submitted by the DPA.
Source: CNA
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