Government Threatens Universities With Funding Cut by Thirty Percent

By AP/Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Education officials in Brazil’s far-right government say they are slashing university funding by 30 percent, a move at least partly believed to be motivated by complaints about partisan activities on campus.

Education Minister Abraham Weintraub first told the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo on Tuesday that he had cut the budget of three federal universities — Brasília, Bahia, and Fluminense — because of their ideological stance and poor performance.

Weintraub complained about political events, partisan demonstrations and other events that he said are inappropriate for a university, though he did not give specific examples, according to the newspaper.

“The university must have a surplus of money to be making such a mess and organizing ridiculous events,” Weintraub said. “I can cut and, unfortunately, need to cut from somewhere,” he added, saying it was part of a broader administration effort to reduce public spending.

University staff and education experts denounced the ideological nature of the decision. Some said the move was unconstitutional.

Later in the day, Arnaldo Barbosa de Lima Junior, the ministry’s chief of higher education, told Globo TV that the budget cuts would be made equally across all universities and institutes linked to the department.

He also said the ministry was looking into establishing “parameters” that would allow some universities to get smaller budget cuts.

The move could affect nearly 300 public universities, faculties, and other educational institutes, according to a 2017 higher education census.

University officials said the cuts would likely affect scholarships, utility services, and maintenance.

The Fluminense Federal University said the funding move if confirmed, “will have serious consequences for the full functioning of the university.”

All three institutions named by Weintraub are among Brazil’s top 20 universities, according to many listings, including the Times Higher Education’s World University Ranking.

This is not the first time that the ministry’s officials have aimed at Brazil’s public education sector, which the new administration believes to be ridden with “Marxist ideology.”

President Jair Bolsonaro recently tweeted that funding for sociology and philosophy studies could be eliminated.