October 1 marks the official beginning of the academic year in all universities in the country. However, it begins with a series of dissatisfaction from the students. As a result of austerity measures, they will no longer benefit from free transport, and the scholarships have been reduced and will not be granted on holidays.
Students protested at the beginning of the week, in front of the government photo source: Facebook/ ANOSR
Instead of being excited, most of the students in Romania begin the revolted academic year: they will back the facilities they enjoyed. The main dissatisfaction is related to transport. If until January they benefited from a 90% discount for all CFR train tickets, regardless of the destination in the country, now things are different. “Only tickets on the route between the locality of home and faculty are still substantially reduced. And this is dissatisfied, because I went more by train as long as the tickets were almost free, especially in the mountains. I have seen beautiful places in the country and I think it is important for students to travel. The reduction helps us a lot“Says Mădălina, a first year student at Master, at the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest.
A CFR ticket on the Bucharest – Oradea route, for example, costs 158 lei at a full price. When the reduction was 90% regardless of the internal route, the students paid only 15.8 lei.
Scholarships, another great dissatisfaction
The reduction of the scholarships is the other great dissatisfaction of the students. “The scholarship fund was reduced by about 52%, the period of granting of the scholarships reduced from 12 months to about 9-10 months, and the students from the tax were eliminated to be able to benefit from scholarships“Says Sergiu Covaci, president of the National Alliance of Student Organizations of Romania (ANOSR).
According to him, the students not only feel that support has been diminished, but they think they are not listened to by the governors. “Slowly, slowly, more and more students are aware that the challenges will be more and more, the expenses are increasing, the context will increase the university abandonment or the performance will be affected“.
Anosr asked for an audience with Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, to discuss the problems of students affected by austerity measures. The organization will organize a protest on Thursday, from 11 o’clock, in Victoriei Square. It’s the second this week.
“There are discussions, there are promises, but we are tired of promises, we expect to see black on white the proposals that will bring the situation to normal“Says Sergiu Covaci.
Teachers, along with students
University professors are shown, in turn, worried about budgetary measures affecting students.
“We must start by saying that students are justified. When you lose a won right, this is hard to accept. Moreover, to diminish an investment in education is a negative signal regarding how society relates to its future. We also refer to the fact that statistics show us that we have a smaller number of higher education graduates compared to other countries in Europe: if we “walk” even more to the motivation of students where we will arrive?“, Says prof. Dr. Ion-Ovidiu Pânișoara, PhD professor and coordinator at the University of Bucharest.
“What should the governors do? To start communicating with students, teachers, doctors, etc. To find alternative solutions, this is happening in a negotiation. A discussion in which one of the parties maintains its original opinion, regardless of the other party’s arguments, is not a negotiation“.
Minister of Education, no message at the beginning of the academic year
The Minister of Education, in front of the students from UBB Cluj-Napoca Photo Facebook/ Ministry of Education
So far, the Minister of Education has not come up with any official message at the beginning of the academic year, as he did when he debuted the school. Daniel David went to the opening celebration at Babeș-Bolyai University on Monday, an institution where he was a rector and professor until he became a minister. According to a statement from the Ministry of Education, Daniel David met with Cluj and the representatives of the students who protested there, which he assured that the Government understands the problem and who presented the short-term plans (the call to European funds) and the environment to alleviate the effect of the fiscal-budgetary measures.
