The escape of the elite or the rescue of the nurses – An open dispute raged in the Parliament – 2024-02-15 18:47:35

Adult education support will be abolished. The government presented the matter to the parliament on Thursday. Inka Soveri

Prime minister Petteri Orpon On Thursday, the (kok) government presented a proposal on the abolition of adult education support.

The left-wing opposition in particular was disgusted by the bill and directed their verbal cannons at the Minister of Labor during question time in the parliament Arto Sato (kok).

– The support has been created so that employees have the opportunity to train alongside work, so that they do not drift into unemployment and the level of competence is maintained. Female-dominated fields in particular suffer from this presentation. Why are the concerns of nurses and teachers not heard now? Member of Parliament of SDP Tuula Haatainen from Satose.

Haatainen wanted to know why the government does not take into account the negative statement given by the trade union OAJ.

– When, for example, Suomen Yrittäjät says its position, you will listen to it. Now, could you tell me how many of the bodies that gave the statement support the abolition of adult education support? Haatainen continued his belting.

Satonen admitted that the statements made about the bill contained a lot of criticism, but started a counterattack.

– Perhaps it is not necessary to give any numbers here. It is true that this has been criticized. But what is this about? According to the calculations of the Ministry of Finance, this has an employment impact of ten thousand. These employment effects have been talked about several times, Satonen began his reasoning.

VM: 10,000 new employees

According to Satonen, the employment effect is genuine.

– Now there is a show that really has an impact on employment. In addition, its impact on the public finances is 175 million euros per year. And when the situation of our state finances is now difficult, these reforms must be made, Satonen emphasized.

The Minister of Labor spoke of the bill as a reform. In practice, it’s about cutting and reducing public spending when the government wants to abolish a benefit.

– It is a different matter, that of course we will continue to need the possibility for a teacher to train as a special education teacher and as a nurse for a community nurse. For this purpose, we have a separate state secretary Laura Rissanen led by a working group that will bring its own proposals to the framework, Satonen promised.

Demariedustai Haatai ​​was not convinced by the labor minister’s words.

Haatainen was clearly prepared for the fact that Satonen would not join the dance about the percentage of negative statements.

– I didn’t get an answer to these numbers. Well over half of those who gave a statement are against this proposal: nurses, teachers, firefighters… Even the municipal employer says in his statement that they do not support the abolition, Haatainen lashed out in his criticism.

I hate it

The Ministry of Labor and Economy’s (TEM) own statement was the icing on the cake of criticism served by the opposition.

– And to top it all off, Satonen, your own ministry Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science says, quote: ‘Based on the impact assessments, there remains uncertainty as to whether the effects of the abolition of adult education support in the long term will genuinely increase the balance of the public finances, business growth and employment’, Haatainen teased.

Satonen did not remain speechless, but painted the picture that the adult education subsidy would have been a bribe of the highly educated labor market elite with tax money.

The government’s line is that in the future those with higher education should stay at work or study for postgraduate degrees with their own money.

– Of course, I can tell a little about what really happens in this adult education support. In 2022, 53 percent of those who received adult education support already had higher education behind them when they started this adult education support, Satonen defended the government’s proposal.

Parliament will debate the abolition of adult education support more next week.