The Goce Delchev Student Dormitory in Skopje / Photo: Meta.mk
In May this year, “State Student Dormitory – Skopje” announced that admission in the state dormitories at the beginning of the academic year will be digitized, which will put an end to the waiting in long lines and to the extensive documentation necessary for admission. However, the announced digitization was not implemented at the beginning of the 2022/2023 academic year, and the long queues of students in front of the Goce Delchev student dormitory on 9 September 2023 have shown that the promise for digitization is still unfulfilled. 
On the 9th of May, “State Student Dormitory – Skopje” (SSD-Skopje) announced on its Facebook page that the process of admission into the dormitories will be digitized, and the students were given hope that they will be able to register with “just a few clicks on the eco-website” of the dormitory.
“Does admission into the student dormitories remind you of waiting in long lines, extensive documentation, and countless bank receipts? From now on, it is available with just a few clicks on our eco-website: www.dsdskopje.mk, at the beginning of the academic year. We provide full digitalization of the records of the students, says the Facebook post of SSD-Skopje from May this year.
In another post on the same social network seven days later, the State Student Dormitory-Skopje, the body that operates the state-owned student dormitories in the capital, informed the students that the annoying long queues in the banks for the payout of the monthly housing fee are also becoming a thing of the past, as the fees payout has also been digitized.
“From now on, pay quickly and simply through the web application on our eco-website www.dsdskopje.mk. The bureaucracy is done with,“ the post reads.
The director of SSD – Skopje, Viktor Velevski, repeated this announcement in a statement for Meta.mk News Agency, pointing out that the goal of digitization is to avoid the queues and to make the entire moving-in process quick and easy, both for the students and the administration.
“Digitization enables automatic generation of accommodation contracts, which facilitates the process of moving in and helps avoid the queues in front of the student dormitories. At the same time, the installation of the software facilitates the administrative work, and enables digitization of all the activities performed by the student dormitory as an economic operator (Booking, Airbnb, meals, etc.)“, Velevski told Meta.mk in May.
He informed that a “unified student card” will be introduced, as an official card that will be given to every student residing in the objects of SSD-Skopje and that it, in addition to facilitating the administrative procedures, enables the use of bottle-recycling machines through which students receive a refund for each recycled bottle.
“With the digitalization, i.e. by introducing the student card, the funds that the students collect through recycling, can be used in the cafeterias of SSD-Skopje, and they will also be able to put money on the card for paying the rent electronically“, announced the director of SSD-Skopje.
However, during the admission to the student dormitories at the beginning of the current academic year 2022/23, the queues of students at some dormitories were evident. Meta.mk witnessed the crowds in front of Goce Delchev Student Dormitory when students waited for a few hours for their turn to move into the dormitory.
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Instead of admissions through the announced digital system, students still had to buy paper documents, and payment for all fees had to be made in a bank.
The detailed admission procedure was explained on a poster in the dormitory itself, as it was clearly written that the documents must be submitted to the Housing Commission. From the photos published on social networks, it is evident that the necessary documents for the students in “Goce Delchev” cost 500 denars.
Furthermore, SSD-Skopje’s website informs that the student card the students should receive is free. But on the photo, one can see that the students still have to pay 300 denars for the card.
Finally, more than a month after moving into their dormitories, students still did not receive the announced student cards they paid for and which they should use for meals, paying the rent, and recycling.
SSD-Skopje says that the implementation of the final procedures for the announced platform is ongoing. Yet, students will have to wait a few more months to enjoy the benefits of this platform.
“Digitization of the student housing is one of the top priorities of the dormitory and that is why we are currently implementing the final procedures on the platform that we have envisioned. This process, which is in the final phase, will be accompanied by the issuing of the “Student card”, thus completing the first phase of the project. In the second phase, students are expected to use the cards and we should work on highlighting the benefits and reducing the problems, if they occur, as well as raising the eco-awareness of the young people“, says the State Student Dormitory – Skopje.
The Ministry of Education and Science (MES) is obviously also to blame for the delay of digitization because SSD – Skopje has not yet received the lists of the students admitted in the dormitories, which are compiled by MES.
“In any case, for this project to be 100% successful, smooth and timely communication and exchange of information with the Ministry of Education and Science, which has the lists of the admitted students before the start of the academic year, is a must. We insist and advocate for that every day,” SSD-Skopje highlights.
Taking into account the fact that State Student Dormitory-Skopje and its director Viktor Velevski announced the digitalization of the admission into the dormitories at the beginning of the academic year, thus ending the extensive documentation problem and the long queues, we can conclude that this promise at the beginning of the academic year 2022/23 is unfulfilled, while the arrival of the Student card to be used by students in the homes is in progress.
SOURCES
An announcement by the State Student Dormitory-Skopje on the social network Facebook
An announcement by the State Student Dormitory-Skopje on the social network Facebook
“Student card for each student”, website of the State Student Dormitory-Skopje
Meta.MK, “Unified Student Card: the procedure for moving into the dormitories in Skopje will be digitized”
