Higher Education Policy Criticized

The 120-member Board of Governors of the Haifa Technion which is meeting this week, heard some sharp criticism of the government yesterday, not on political issues but for its alleged failure to make necessary decisions in the field of higher education. Evelyn de Rothschild, of England, said decisions were called for with respect to the allocation of government funds to institutions of higher leaming and the establishment of duplicate faculties at Israeli universities. Israel is too small a country to permit that, he said.

Rothschild was apparently alluding to reports that a faculty in aeronautical engineering was contemplated for Tel Aviv University. The Technion, founded in the 1930s, is the only university-level institution in Israel that specializes in all branches of engineering and related sciences and technology. Rothschild said there was a danger that the very fact of duplication could erode the support and good-will built up for the Technion over the years. He criticized Education Minister Zevulun Hammer for not finding the time to attend the Board meeting.

The Board of Governors has several problems to contend with, not the least of which is the wage demands of administrative employes who held an outdoor rally on the campus while the Board was in session. Students are pressing demands of their own, including changes in the curriculum and easing examinations. In that connection, a Technion spokesman told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the school will continue to maintain its high academic standards. There has also been friction between the faculty and Technion president Amos Horev who the former accuse of not doing enough to persuade the government to agree to an increase in the salaries of academicians.