英大学に３６０万円のグレタさん像、無駄な支出と学生から批判

【ロンドンＡＦＰ＝時事】スウェーデンの環境活動家グレタ・トゥンベリさんの像が、英イングランド南部ウィンチェスター大学に設置された。大学側は「持続可能性と社会正義のための取り組み」を反映したものだとしているが、学生や教職員からは無駄な支出だとの批判が上がっている。（写真はスウェーデンの環境活動家グレタ・トゥンベリさん）
　大学教職員労働組合ユニバーシティー・アンド・カレッジ・ユニオン（ＵＣＵ）ウィンチェスター大学支部は、「空虚なプロジェクト」だとして、新型コロナウイルスの大流行にもかかわらず、グレタさん像に約２万４０００ポンド（約３６０万円）の費用をかけたことを批判。像ではなく、大学のサービス削減やリストラを避けるために使うべきだったとして、設置に関する意思決定が「不透明だった」と主張した。
　同大学生自治会のメーガン・ボールさんがＢＢＣに語ったところによると、学生たちはグレタさんの環境貢献活動に疑問を呈しているわけではなく、学生が直面している「重要な問題」に取り組むことを大学に求めている。
　同大の副学長を務めるジョイ・カーター教授は、学生や教職員から集めた資金を像に流用していないと強調した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/04/01-17:16）

The installation of a statue of climate change activist Greta Thunberg at a UK university on Tuesday has sparked a backlash among staff and students who have said the money could have been better spent.
The statue of the Swedish campaigner was installed at the University of Winchester in southern England to reflect its commitment to sustainability and social justice, the university said in a statement.
However, the Winchester branch of the University and College Union (UCU), which represents academic staff, has dismissed the monument as a vanity project and criticised its ??24,000 (28,000 euro, $33,000) cost amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement, the UCU said funding for the statue should have been used to prevent cuts to services and redundancies and called decision-making about its installation opaque.
Winchester Students' Union president Megan Ball told the BBC that students were not questioning Thunberg's contribution as an important campaigner but instead wanted the university to address critical issues facing students.
We're in a Covid year, lots of students haven't really had access to campus, lots of them are trying to study online and are in dire need of support, Ball said.
We are calling on the university to match the statue cost by committing ??23,760 in additional funding to student support services across campus, she added.
The university's vice-chancellor Professor Joy Carter has emphasised that no funding was diverted from students or staff to pay for the statue.
The university's approach to art is to commission or purchase unusual and striking pieces which embody our distinctiveness and values, Carter said, praising Thunberg as a world leading environmental activist.
We know that many find her a controversial figure, she said, adding that the university welcomed reasoned debate and critical conversations.
Thunberg, who began campaigning against climate change in 2018 at the age of 15, has earned Amnesty International's top human rights prize and the Swedish Right Livelihood Award, often presented as an alternative Nobel.
In 2019 she was named person of the year by Time magazine.