 |
| Edi Rama |
The Prime Minister Edi Rama has trasfered some of the responsibility of the student protest and their demands on the rectors and deans of the universities of Albania who had an urgent meeting today, while students protested for 9 days for 8 request.
Though quiet, Rama spoke harshly to university leaders by even putting into question the autonomy of higher education institutions.He said university leaders should take on themselves a part of the responsibility, focusing on specific student demands.
"The uprising of the students and demanding the budget to be published online, this is the end. And this is one of the demands made to the government, while this is not 'A', as 'a' is learned when going to school, but it is the first thing a child learns when comes to life. Here's how budgets are, how are they spent. Some do, but people do not know. Do not think I came to dismiss the responsibilities. But one thing I want to tell you is that in my reading, the student protest is a slap for the government, a punch for the opposition and a hope for the public opinion. What is for you, you have to find it yourself, it's not up to me to say," said the prime minister.
Rama said further that "step by step you will see that this protest in the first place relates to you in the substance, when I say with you I do not talk about the person but about the university."
"We came to the fees that certainly are the responsibility of the universities to propose and the government's responsibility to approve them. How it is posible that today students do not know what the fees are. They do not know that 75% of their cost is covered by the state budget.
We are all aware that the new law on higher education has given a new kind of autonomy to universities. Many students and many citizens are in their right ... If the day has come that you break the eye and close the doors so that the students go out on the street and that the bodies inside encourage the students and leave the street the fate of the students and not take part in assuming responsibilities in a situation where the responsibility it is very clear then I'm sorry but we have to look at university's autonomy. Probably has been premature, perhaps has been rash," said Rama in his speech.