The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Finance and the Hebrew University formulated a plan to revitalize the institution. The Hebrew University has committed to a multi-year streamlining program (for a decade) in the amount of NIS 2.7 billion.
Program highlights:
- The Hebrew University will cover its accumulated debt, in the amount of approximately 1.8 billion NIS: The deficit will be covered by self-financing sources that are not used for academic activities, including: the sale of assets (400 million NIS) and the provision of collateral and other sources (600 million NIS). Also, by other administrative and economic means.
- The Hebrew University will balance its current budget through internal institutional efficiency measures, amounting to approximately 900 million NIS (90 million NIS per year on average): Reducing jobs and reducing salary components (26 million NIS per year), increasing overheads (15 million NIS per year), additional income for the current budget (49 million NIS per year). Also, the institution is committed to administrative efficiency.
- The implementation of the recovery plan will allow the Hebrew University to preserve and even strengthen the academic and international reputation it has gained over the years.
- In the face of these measures, The state will allocate budgetary additions, over and above the university's existing budget, in the amount of approximately NIS 700 million (an average of NIS 70 million per year) for a decade.
The Hebrew University is a valued institution and over the years has been regularly selected in the ranking of the 100 best universities in the world. However, in the last two decades, the university has encountered significant financial difficulties that cloud its proper conduct, jeopardize its financial stability and may damage its academic standing. The financial and social contribution of the Hebrew University to the State of Israel and the city of Jerusalem is significant and is greatly appreciated by the government officials. The Hebrew University's scientific research contributes significantly to the international status of the State of Israel and produces Nobel Prize winners and world-changing technology companies such as Mobileye.
In light of this, and at the end of intensive negotiations that lasted almost two years, the Ministry of Finance and the Hebrew University formulated a multi-year recovery plan, which will be spread over a decade. The program is designed to ensure a budgetary balance that will lead to strengthening the institution's academic and administrative excellence.
The plan includes a series of measures that will oblige the university to realize assets, become more efficient and conduct an internal, academic and administrative reorganization, to the extent of approximately NIS 2.7 billion.
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon said in response to the publication of the program: "The Hebrew University is an integral part of the economic resilience of the Israeli economy. The agreement we reached will allow the university to continue to contribute to the growth of Israel's economy through investment in research and development and the cultivation of human capital. The goal of all the factors that came together and led to the signing of the agreement is for the university to be not only a leading and groundbreaking academic institution, but also a body with stability and financial independence."
The Minister of Education and Chairman of the Legislative Council Naftali Bennett said: "The Hebrew University was and still is one of the best universities in the world, a source of pride for the State of Israel and above all a magnificent academic institution that has raised over decades thousands of celebrated researchers whose contribution to research and the country is tremendous. The recovery plan poses many challenges to the university and the state, but its implementation will ensure that in the future the university will be ranked among the top universities in the world."
The chairman of the University of Israel, Prof. Yaffe Zilbrashtz: "The Hebrew University is a symbol and brand of the State of Israel in general and the locomotive of the higher education system in particular. As soon as I took office, the grim picture of its difficult financial situation became clear to me and I decided, together with the Minister of Education and the Ministry of Finance, to make every effort to find the right balances that would allow for financial stability, while taking strict and challenging efficiency measures. "VAT will closely monitor the implementation of the recovery plan and make sure that the institution meets each of the milestones that stand before it, and with the help of the state continues to gallop along the academic tracks with genius, and from the pursuit of research and managerial excellence."
The president of the Hebrew University, Prof. Asher Cohen: "The Hebrew University has been leading academia in Israel for generations. In recent years, we have encountered a problematic budgetary situation that has created many difficulties and jeopardized our ability to continue leading the Israeli academy. I am happy to say that today the Hebrew University is embarking on a new and challenging path. We have built a long-term plan which obliges the institution to significant processes and poses many challenges, and will allow academic, research and teaching growth and renewal. These steps will allow the Hebrew University to continue to lead higher education in Israel and advance it to more international achievements. We are also happy to be integrated into all of the state's goals, which include expanding the fields of study - engineering and computer science and making the academy accessible to unique sectors such as ultra-Orthodox and Arabs. We thank Prof. Yaffe Zilbarschatz, the OT team and the curator for the support we received from them during the construction of the program and for their agreement to provide the necessary assistance for the implementation of the program."
2 תגובות
The recovery plan is the result of the wasteful conduct of the members of the academic staff, who do not bear the burden of recovery at all. The members of the academic staff have built themselves luxurious offices, and a network of financial benefits and corrupt waste such as traveling abroad and hiring personal assistants without control and without curbing their demands. The result for the recovery plan is, cuts in manpower and the conditions of the budget pension, while moving to private contractors who employ without rights, cheap manpower.
Therefore, there is no attraction for quality manpower to work there
And loyalty and perseverance to stay there. So that as soon as such an employee finds a better place, he will leave immediately and make room for another temporary employee and so on with no chance of a skilled employee staying there. The result: a drastic decrease in the quality and performance of basic tasks, thus
That everyone comes out damaged by such a failed conduct.
The Israeli taxpayer is currently financing the scandalous budgetary pension of the veteran faculty employees. The workers' committee of the "Hebrew" pushed for a reform that could have saved the university from a deficit. All the rest are washing ugly words. Those who want to understand in detail should look for articles by Professor Omar Moab on the subject.