Rector Vladan Đokić stated, after a meeting with Prime Minister Đuro Macut, that no conclusions or solutions were reached, and that he does not see much progress after three held meetings “because those who need to decide are not at these meetings, and those are the students who set certain conditions and who are not giving up on their demands because those conditions have not been met.” When asked if students could perhaps be involved, Rector Đokić said that this is not a question for him, that they proposed it, but they do not know if it will happen. He also stated that there was no talk of elections and that today they demanded that the regulations and decrees of the previous Government that lead to the financial instability of higher education institutions be annulled – but that there is nothing from that for now.
As he said, the meeting was attended by the Prime Minister, two ministers, the rectors of the universities in Niš, Kragujevac, Novi Sad, Novi Pazar, and the University of Arts.
“At the meeting, we presented the representatives of the Government of Serbia with a platform for resolving these problems. There was not much talk about this platform today, but I must mention several segments from that platform that we also emphasized today at the meeting, and which are very important. One of these is actually the deterioration of universities, primarily financially, which actually concerns the autonomy of universities. This is not just the fact that professors and assistants are not receiving salaries, they are receiving 12% of their salaries, but it is also certain inspections that actually impose certain penalties on higher education units that need to pay, and this largely leads to the financial instability of many higher education institutions,” the rector stated.
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The rector said that today they made an appeal for those conclusions, decrees, and regulations adopted by the previous government to be annulled in some way, however, there is nothing from that for now.
Secondly, regarding the issues that the government representatives emphasized here, which is the continuation and implementation of classes, the rector said that their position is that only the students who are in the blockade can decide on this and that it is actually a question for them and that they should be involved in the discussions and in some way give their view of the situation and their view of the contribution.
“So, no conclusion was reached, no solutions were given. It was agreed that they will meet again in the coming period, I don’t know exactly when yet, so there you have it, that is roughly the summary of what was at the meeting today,” he stated.
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Source: N1, Foto: ATA Images