Albanian gov’t fails to meet students’ demands as protest grows bigger by the day
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- On the seventh consecutive day in a row that students gather in front of the country’s Education Ministry, the number of students asking for better education conditions and lowered tuition fees grew by the thousands.
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TIRANA, Dec. 11 - As the government failed once more on Tuesday to meet the deadline set by protesting students’ to comply with their demands, Tirana traffick suffered heavily due to completely blocked streets due to what quickly became the most massive protest the country has seen in years.
On the seventh consecutive day in a row that students gather in front of the country’s Education Ministry, the number of students asking for better education conditions and lowered tuition fees grew by the thousands.
Although local media reported police authorities had stopped students buses coming from other cities, the protest was joined by students coming from Durres, Vlora, Elbasan, Shkodra, Korca and Gjirokastra.
Seniors from Tirana’s high schools also joined the protest, while those who remained in the outskirts held their own rallies and skipping classes.
Students claim that their eight requirements for tariff cuts, increased education budget, participation in faculty management and faculty election, corruption and low standard of professors are non-negotiable and they expect the government to meet them.
They also stress their demands are part of the existing laws and should have been met by the government before students took the streets, leaving the government no place to negotiate but urging it to meet its legal duties in relation to the students.
A number of representatives speaking to local media claimed Prime Minister Edi Rama’s two-hour live speech yesterday and his proposals are unrelated to their eight basic demands regarding the education system.
According to them, Rama's promises for free scholarships, or for increased work places are luxury promises long overdue, as they now seek to have the most basic conditions for living and studying met.
Additionally claiming they don’t trust Rama’s desire to set up dialogue, they decided to refuse any talks and persist to keep their protest away from politics.
Further on, protesting students said they felt offended by Rama’s statement last week calling protesters “failing students who costs taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay,” when in fact, they allege, Minister of Education Lindita Nikolla was a weak student herself.
Over the last seven days, thousands of students are chanting the government and university authorities are abusing their families’ money because the government raised the cost of their studies, lowering the standard of their university life.
Meanwhile, the government met one of the protesters' demands and expressed readiness for dialogue concerning the rest, but the students said they will continue the protests until all requests are met.
