A group of people in Argentina is promoting a request for a binding popular consultation on the financing of national universities. This request is framed within Article 40 of the National Constitution, which establishes the possibility for Congress to call for a binding popular consultation with mandatory voting and no possibility of presidential veto, whose approval implies immediate promulgation.
The financing crisis faced by Argentine national universities has led various sectors to advocate for this popular consultation, aiming to gain popular support to ensure adequate university funding. The Boards of Directors of the faculties have also joined this proposal, issuing resolutions urging Congress to call for such a consultation.
The request has the support of more than 400 signatures from prominent figures in the university, scientific, and cultural fields, including former ministers and former officials from different governments. The University Financing Law approved by Congress, with unanimous support from university rectors, was vetoed by the president, generating widespread dissatisfaction among the educational community and the general public.
This initiative aims to ensure that national universities can operate adequately, maintaining their essential activities of teaching, research, and outreach, with quality, inclusion, and relevance. The importance of using mechanisms of direct democracy, such as popular consultation, is highlighted to secure the necessary university funding in a context of budgetary crisis and challenges for the educational sector.
Popular support for this initiative has manifested in marches and mobilizations across the country, reflecting society's concern for the situation of universities and its impact on the quality of education. The call for this popular consultation cannot be subject to veto, and if approved, the resulting law will be promulgated immediately, as established by the Constitution.
Amid demands for low teacher salaries and precarious working conditions in universities, the request for popular consultation seeks to give voice to the public on a fundamental issue for the educational and scientific development of the country. The financing crisis in universities has generated an unprecedented social mobilization, highlighting the active role of the student movement in defending public education of quality for all.
