Overview
- Public university leaders chose Rosario rector Franco Bartolacci to lead the National Interuniversity Council at a two‑day plenary in La Pampa and issued urgent declarations on budgets and science.
- They reported a real 45.6% drop in transfers since 2023, a 32% loss of pay power since late 2023 equal to about 7.3 monthly salaries, and the lowest university wages in 23 years.
- The council and the national network of research institute heads placed science on maximum alert and warned that cuts are forcing young researchers to leave the country.
- Government officials circulated a draft that grants a 12.3% raise in three tranches and links broader updates to inflation only once it tops about 14.3%, a plan university leaders and unions reject as inadequate.
- University unions announced new multi‑day strikes next week and more actions in April, raising the risk of further class stoppages, stalled labs, and deeper strain on student aid lines such as Progresar, which the council says fell 82% year over year in nominal terms.