Link, mobilised in many universities against cuts and Anvur reform

All over Italy, male and female students displayed banners, placards and leaflets to inform the academic community and protest against policies that, in their view, exacerbate inequalities between universities and undermine university autonomy. "Despite Minister Anna Maria Bernini's claim of an increase in the Ordinary Financing Fund for 2025, the data show a very different reality: the overall quota remains lower than in 2023, the year before the massive cuts to the university sector, cuts that, as we have seen in recent years, are weighing on budgets, forcing universities to cut back on services and recruitment, and to use their own funds to fill budget gaps, affecting the quality of the university system.

Of particular concern is the reform of the Anvur, the National Agency for the Evaluation of Universities and Research, which for years has been helping to widen the funding gap by favouring the universities considered 'more productive'. The new legislation further strengthens the Agency's powers, tying it more closely to government control: the Minister of Universities will in fact be able to intervene directly in the definition of evaluation objectives, compromising the system's independence. No less serious is the university governance reform spearheaded by Galli della Loggia, which envisages extending the powers and term of office of rectors, introducing a representative of the MUR in the Boards of Directors, and reducing the representation of the academic community: the representation of technical-administrative and library staff would disappear, while that of students would be halved. The ministry of university and research should guarantee adequate funding and guidelines for the management of funds on the national territory on the basis of the needs of the individual university and the individual territory, not a watchdog to make sure that the academic component stays in its place and that the interests of private individuals and companies that sit on the Boards are served,' says Arianna D'Archivio, national coordinator of Link Coordinamento universitario. For these students, this is yet another attempt to centralise political and financial control over universities, reducing their autonomy and distancing them even further from the real needs of those who live the university every day'. Link Coordinamento Universitario will be in the square on 14 November, for the national student and knowledge chain strike.