Criticism over universities’ funding plan

The chair of the opposition Greens party, Ville Niinistö, has criticised recently announced plans by government to sell off state property in order to additionally fund universities and colleges of applied sciences, arguing that the government should instead withdraw its education budget cutting plans, reports Yle.

Niinistö reacted last weekend to Education Minister Sanni Grahn-Laasonen's interview with Lännen Media, after she announced a reversal of plans to cut "hundreds of millions of euros" from higher education by making up for the cuts through the sale of state-owned assets.

When asked by Yle about the specific figures of the new plans, Grahn-Laasonen said she wanted to wait for results from a government working group examining the issue before commenting. The rector of Abo Akademi University, Mikko Hupa, toned down possible expectations of Grahn-Laasonen's newly announced plans. Hupa said that even though the education minister said the added revenues would be coming from additional funds, that would not actually be the case.
Full report on the Yle site