Prime Minister refuses to earmark more money to universities

Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has rejected request by Education Minister Ondřej Liška for an additional funding for universities amounting to two billion crowns (approximately 120 million US dollars). Mr Topolánek said the money could be acquired by reassessing the distribution of means in the budget of the Education Ministry. Ondřej Liška justified his request by pointing to the growing number of university students. He also stressed that the annual state allowance per student in 2009 will be lower than in the previous years.