Universities see exodus of key staff due to poor salaries

Both Palacky University in Olomouc and Charles University in Prague in the Czech Republic are experiencing the departure of academic staff, often including key staff, due to the long-term underfunding of education, their rectors said after a meeting of the Czech Rectors Conference, reports the Czech News Agency.

Palacky University Rector Martin Prochazka and Charles University Rector Milena Kralickova said they had already taken several steps to reduce the disparity in salaries of academics, especially in the humanities. These include reallocating money and analysing the quality and quantity of teaching programmes.

The long-term underfunding of universities was one of the main themes of the Czech Rectors Conference. In a resolution, the rectors call for setting a binding medium-term target for growth in funding, and strengthening institutional funding for universities. The faculties of arts at both universities are planning a strike on 17 October, aimed at drawing attention to undignified wages and conditions for teaching and other work at universities. So far, academics have no prospects for improving the situation.
Full report on the BRNO Daily site