While the University of Strasbourg announces its closure for two additional weeks this winter to lower its energy bill, other establishments are taking other, less drastic measures.
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The University of Strasbourg will close its doors for two more weeks this winter to cope with rising energy prices. The Christmas holidays will thus be extended by a week at the beginning of January and the students will have a week of video lessons in February. Elsewhere in France, other universities have also decided to cut back to lower the bill.
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These establishments will not go as far as closing as in Strasbourg, but some have already suspended classes, in particular in Lille. Others have opted for distanciel or have planned to lower the temperature of the heating. In Rouen, the internship period for students could be brought forward: it would therefore take place this winter to limit face-to-face lessons to this time of year.
There are more and more feedback from the higher education union Snesup-FSU. “We cannot accept that students are banned from campus when their housing conditions in the middle of winter are not satisfactory and are often dramatic”, deplores Pascal Maillard, Snesup-FSU academic manager in Strasbourg. Favorable to a reduction in the energy expenditure of universities, for example “by reducing heating in large spaces and hallways”the union is asking for a staff consultation.
The Snesup-FSU fears lower quality learning with sometimes dotted courses, a concern shared by students. Associations denounce, for example, the return of video, very badly experienced by some during successive confinements – especially when the internet connection is faulty. But universities must manage an increasingly tight budget. Between 2 and 7 million euros estimated additional cost for energy this year. At the very moment when they have to support the rise in the index point of civil servants.