Sarajevo University Budget Reduced in Rebalancing Without Consultation with Rector

By Amra Vrabac

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The KS Government at yesterday's session considered the rebalancing of the Budget for 2020, and as announced by the Minister of Finance Jasmin Halebić (SDA), cuts will be made in all institutions founded by KS. A reduction in the budget for 2020 is also planned for the University of Sarajevo, although the initial budget was already 10 million KM less than the actual needs of the University of Sarajevo.

The KS Government has not yet adopted the rebalancing, as there is no agreement on the proposed rebalancing and the reduction of budgets for certain institutions. 

The Rector of the University of Sarajevo, Rifat Škrijelj, did not hide his surprise at the proposed budget reduction for this most significant educational institution in BiH. In a conversation with Patria, he says that the University was bypassed in consultations regarding the budget reduction. Even greater surprise is that some faculties are planned to have their budgets increased, while others are to have them reduced. Although Minister Halebić stated at yesterday's press conference that salaries would not be reduced because collective agreements must be respected, the budget rebalancing also envisages salary reductions at UNSA. 

The budget rebalancing was prepared by the Ministry of Finance, so the fact that the budget reduction for the largest public university in BiH, which has 27,000 students and 2,800 employees, is being carried out without consultations with the University's management itself, and even with the relevant Minister of Education and Science, Anis Krivić, is concerning. 

Škrijelj says that the budget reduction is justified by the crisis caused by the coronavirus, but reminds that the KS Government and the FBiH Government have taken several steps that harm the University, and that this is just another blow to the work of UNSA.

“First, the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law was evicted from the premises that were supposed to be an isolation ward, and the building is still empty. Then, part of the premises of the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture was converted into an isolation ward, and then our students were evicted from the dormitories without any prior notice, even though they had valid contracts, in order to create a quarantine there. If our students need to attend the June-July exam sessions, who guarantees them that everything is safe for their stay there and whether they will even be allowed to stay,” says the rector. 

The fact that this is not a transparent process when it comes to rebalancing is confirmed by the rector's statement that he “had to find information as if it were someone's private money and not a public university.” 

Incidentally, the University of Sarajevo is under frequent inspection, and the rector believes that this is also one of the ways in which certain interest groups from some organizational units are attacking UNSA and the rector.

What is hidden behind such attacks on the University of Sarajevo and its leadership could become clearer as early as next month, when the procedure for electing the rector of UNSA should begin. 

It should be recalled that at the end of January, the Minister of Education, Science and Youth, Zineta Bogunić, proposed a Draft Law on Higher Education, which the Government adopted, and which was met with disapproval in academic circles. A petition was launched against such a draft law and its withdrawal from further procedure was requested. Those more informed claimed that the Draft Law on Higher Education of Sarajevo Canton, in its part concerning the advancement of teachers, was a “poor plagiarism of the by-law” “Regulation on the conditions for election to scientific positions of the Republic of Croatia” from 2017.

After criticism from academic circles and analysis of the draft text, no one mentions the new Law on Higher Education of Sarajevo Canton anymore.