Students took to the streets in Bratislava, requesting the withdrawal of the amendment on universities – SME.sk

BRATISLAVA. University students took to the streets in Bratislava on Wednesday afternoon. In protest, they are calling for the withdrawal of the higher education reform proposal from the legislative process and calling for dialogue.

According to them, the amendment to the law does not solve real problems in education; on the contrary, it creates more.

“We want to ensure that this amendment is withdrawn from the comment procedure and that a dialogue takes place. Our voices have not yet been sufficiently heard,” said Lucia Chudá, President of the Student Section of the Academic Senate of the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava.

According to the students, the prepared proposal is not a reform, because it does not solve real problems in education.

These include, for example, the financial support of boarding schools, students are also bothered by the quality of teaching or insufficient support for teachers who go abroad.

They also do not like the politicization of the academic environment that would occur with the amendment.

“If self-government is abolished, we will not be able to comment on fundamental issues. The self-government works, it has its faults, but by canceling it, the voice of the students represented in it is also canceled, “said Chudá.

According to her, there is very little one student vote in the whole series. She pointed out that they also share common views with other faculties and schools.

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At the same time, the students’ representatives asked for an official audience with the President of the Slovak Republic Zuzana Čaputová.

The Ministry of Education told TASR on Tuesday that it was open to discussion in connection with the draft amendment to the Higher Education Act and would welcome any suggestions and comments on the law, which is currently in the interdepartmental comment procedure.

According to the Ministry of Education, the bill is also based on relevant foreign analyzes, studies and comparisons, which show that Slovak universities urgently need reform.