In the last four years the offer of places in Spanish (200 a year) has been maintained; the offer in Basque was 130 places, and in this last year it has risen to 168, below that of Spanish. EH Bildu parliamentarian, Ander Goikoetxea, asked the Basque Government’s Minister of Science, Universities and Innovation, Ander Goikoetxea, for the coverage of all places in Euskera and for the lack of health professionals who know Euskera: Do you think it is necessary to expand the medical degree places offered in Euskera? What measures will be taken to offer more places in Basque? How many places are offered in the next four courses?

The counsellor Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias answered very concisely and did not get wet, did not specify whether an extension of seats is necessary. Above argument: “The UPV/EHU has university autonomy to decide, among other things, the offer of places in Euskera. The University shall approve the future offer in its collegiate bodies, following the appropriate internal procedures”.

The reality is that doctors who do not know Euskera are the bread of every day in Osakidetza, doctors who are not able to adequately attend to citizens who want care in Euskera; if you want to ensure that future doctors know Euskera, why not increase the places in Medicine, knowing that the places will be covered? Why is the supply of places in Spanish at the Universidad Pública del País Vasco still higher?

If, in greater depth, there is a lack of doctors in Osakidetza, why does it not increase the supply of Medicine in a more pronounced way, knowing that the young people who are willing to study Medicine are much more than the places that are offered? UPV/EHU professor Jon Diaz told us at ARGIA that the question is privatization: “In the UPV/EHU only 368 places are offered in the medical degree, although over the last ten years more than 2,000 students have wanted to study Medicine. At the same time, we have heard over and over again the Health Advisor that there are not enough doctors. Why doesn't the door open any longer and more places are offered? The internal situation of Osakidetza is guaranteed in favour of private healthcare, while Quirón has a red carpet in the Basque Country. They have brought the public into a state of distress and launched an offer to the private.”

In the opinion of Díaz, to this must be added that when public places are offered in careers, the Basque Government takes into account that a proportion of students will go to the private university and make an offer “always for the benefit of the interests of the private”.