On January 1, 2024, mandatory contributions will come into effect for all scholarship recipients in non-work placements, that is, those that are part of their study program. This point was committed within the pension reform agreed with the unions for the month of October, but under pressure from the universities, the former Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, granted a three-month extension that l will be completed at the end of the year. The Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) is still not satisfied with this measure but is working to solve the technical problems involved in adapting a model designed for workers to intern students, in view of the fact that their transfer will not be postponed again. application.
Some 400,000 students from all over the country joined the contribution system, according to the calculations managed by the different actors involved, a challenge in terms of bureaucratic burden and economic personnel costs from the point of view of the universities. “We do not have any precedent, so in an act of responsibility we are trying to put ourselves before the problems that may arise. Many universities have already reinforced their staff while waiting to see how it will be structured, because in many cases we are having to assume the role that the law assigns to the entity or company that receives the student,” explains the president of CRUE Student Affairs and rector of the University of Huelva, María Antonia Peña, in conversation with La Información.
The universities and autonomous communities governed by the PP fueled the debate just a month ago because they considered that the acting Government had not “made progress in finding a solution to the problem caused” by the lack of coordination between ministries. In the last legislature, up to three ministries had something to say about this matter – Universities, Education and Social Security – which will be repeated with the new configuration despite having changed the structure. The ministry, then headed by Escrivá, committed to meeting with all the territories and formed a working group with the educational centers that has not borne fruit, according to CRUE, who are waiting to receive news about the new configuration of the Ministry from which Elma Sáiz has taken over.
Instead, universities work with the General Treasury of Social Security to resolve technical doubts that they claim are “many.” “We have no precedents, it is about adapting a model designed for workers to students who carry out internships with academic and training content, which is why we have many doubts,” acknowledges Peña. “There are many singularities, we are not clear about what to do with Erasmus students or other mobility programs. We are receiving communications and some issues have already been resolved but others have not,” she says in conversation with this medium. At CRUE they consider that a new extension would be “desirable” for this adaptation but they do not expect that they will have it.
The unions rule out changes
Both CCOO and UGT conveyed to the Ministry of Social Security their rejection and at the same time surprise upon learning that the contribution of the scholarships was going to be delayed three months more than what was agreed and reflected in the reform of the public pension system. So now union sources present in the negotiation say they have guaranteed its entry into force, with no room for new changes despite the replacement at the head of Social Security. From the portfolio, however, they do not go that far and limit themselves to stating that in recent months no modifications have been agreed upon, but that the new ministry will have to evaluate it once its configuration is complete.
Escrivá’s team was aware of the grievance caused to the union associations by this decision, taken almost at the same time as the abandonment of the Scholarship Statute in a drawer after more than a year of negotiation. For this reason, he agreed to extend the two years that former interns would be able to compensate to add the internship period to their working life to a total of five. This concession, which means for practical purposes that those workers who had already recovered two years with what was agreed in 2011 can recover a total of 7 years – something of special importance for researchers – was reflected in the same royal decree as the extension. Therefore, both unions are confident that this time what was agreed upon months ago will be applied.
The provision that includes the contribution of all students who take curricular or extracurricular internships, regardless of whether they are paid or not, was the result of a long negotiation in which union sources assess that the resistance of the universities has been superior. to that of the employers. CRUE was not part of the negotiation with the social agents for the pension reform, but was consulted as it was one of the main actors involved. The Conference of Rectors has been especially insistent in defending the idea that this contribution was going to reduce the interest in having students in internships, despite the fact that this is 95% subsidized by the State so that the cost does not exceed 9 .21 euros per month for common and professional contingencies.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS