Several thousand students, professors and high school students gathered outside the Government of the Republic of Macedonian and demanded the withdrawal of the Law on higher education that provides introduction of state exam at the faculties. Chanting “Enough hiding”, “External testing for the Government”, “Autonomy”, “No justice, no peace” in Macedonian and Albanian, they expressed their dissatisfaction with the adoption of the law without a broad public debate and without consulting the students.
– These protests are not just some ordinary student protests, they are something new, the beginning of something much bigger. They are the beginning of hope and faith of Macedonian citizens. From this day forward, Macedonian citizens are no longer afraid. We, the students, will have to fight for a better future, future that we deserve. Once again, we demonstrated that we are not deaf, that we are not mute. Today we will tell only one thing to our politicians. Until you are lying and toying with us, there will be no peace – said representatives of “Student Plenum”.
The protest was also attended by professors who were publically called by student to express their support.
– On behalf of “Professorial Plenum”, I want to congratulate you for gathering courage to go out on the streets and for encouraging us as well and because we finally saw a sparkle in your eyes. We are here to the end – said Professor Iskra Panovska-Dimkova from the Faculty of Philology.
At the protest, students read a letter from the European Commissioner for Education, Culture Youth and Sports and Director General for Education and Culture of the European Union to the Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, in which they express solidarity with the representatives of “Student Plenum” and their supporters.
“Critical thought is hostage to the dictates of those in power. The proposed amendments to the Law on higher education in addition to the recent acts of the Ministry of Education not only undermine, but totally eliminate the autonomy of universities”, reads the letter.
