Five months have passed since the blockades of faculties began in Serbia. The authorities have already put an end to them, and April 15 was mentioned as the deadline for the establishment of classes. How Vučić thinks that "students who want to learn" will be granted their wish
Country faculty blockade has been announced for a long time in a more or less threatening tone, but and students are adamant that they will not give up until all their demands are met.
Along with new announcements from the top of the government about breaking the blockades, the name of the future minister of education has also arrived - Dejan Vuk Stanković who opposes the blockades from the very beginning and who does not choose his words on the regime media about those who do not agree with the policy Aleksandar Vučić. His election is seen by many as an additional pressure on the faculties, in him a man who is ready to put down the rebellion of students and professors without compromise.
The latest announcement from the Ministry of Education came a few days ago, and mid-April was listed as the deadline for the beginning of the year in order to "end the academic year in a meaningful way."
Speaking from the stage at the central event of the "We will not give Serbia" rally, the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said that one of the demands of the Movement for the People and the State, which he promotes, is to enable every pupil and student to get an education and study if they want to. He once again called the students and pupils to return to the benches and said that "the colored revolution is over".
Faith in community and solidarity
Aleksa Savić, a student at the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, tells "Vreme" that this is not the first time that such announcements have been made and that students remain blocked.
"This is, I think, the fourth time that the president has announced some kind of return to classes. The previous time it was March 15, and we had the same attitude then. We return to the benches only when our demands are met. The platitude 'he is not competent' is constantly repeated, he really is not competent in any sense," says Savić.
The teaching-scientific council of his faculty has supported the students from the beginning and he believes that it will remain so.
"We fully believe in our community and solidarity that there will be no return to classes," says Savić.
That this is not the first announcement of the "breakdown of the blockade" is also stated by a student at the University of Belgrade.
"Every month they announce classes and the start of classes, and the classes should be conducted by the teaching-scientific councils that support us. Students remain blocked in one way or another. At some faculties, it's worse, very great pressure, blackmail, emotional manipulations have begun, but no faculty has backed down from it so far. At universities, where classes are held, students do not come," says a student who wishes to remain anonymous to "Vreme".
He says the year cannot fail.
"It can be a white year, that is, nothing that happened is valid, we turn over a new leaf and start a new school year, or we can be in the status quo as long as there are student blockades. When the demands are met, we can talk about compensating classes and the implementation of exam deadlines that were not held, and then, after the end of that school year, a new one begins," says this student of the University of Belgrade.
And one of the students of the Belgrade Faculty of Law says that they remain blocked.
Breaking resistance at the Faculty of Medicine in Niš
The teaching-scientific council of the Faculty of Medicine in Nis made a decision on the start of online classes from April 15.
Marija Stanković, a student of that faculty, spoke about this on the stage at the meeting in Belgrade before Vučić, who announced that classes would begin at that faculty on Tuesday, April 15.
Last week, at the invitation of the dean, the police came and handed the students summonses for questioning.
Now, with the announcement of online classes, the Administration is trying to break the blockages, the Self-Organized Informal Group of Students from Niš states on Instagram.
They are calling for a protest in front of the Faculty of Medicine on April 15 at eight in the morning, in order to help their colleagues.
"The management of the faculty is trying to break them - it introduces online teaching without a legal basis. No program is accredited for it. Their diplomas are at risk. If they give in, everyone else will follow. If we remain silent - we all lose," the students state.
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A student of that faculty in Niš told N1 television that the announcements about the introduction of online classes are an attack.
"This is no longer an issue for students, this is an issue for all citizens of Serbia. If we allow online classes to continue, we are creating a long-term problem. They are now trying to implement online classes, to break the blockages at one faculty at a time, we are an experiment," she told N1.
The announcement of online classes was also announced at the Faculty of Sports and Visual Education in Novi Sad, as well as at the State University in Novi Pazar.
How do all authorities announce the collapse of faculty blockades?
Having crushed the rebellion in primary and secondary schools, government officials began to put more and more pressure on higher education institutions.
Professors' salaries were terminated, the ratio of teaching hours and scientific-research work was changed, an extraordinary inspection was carried out, faculties received letters in mid-March asking for information on whether classes and exams are taking place, whether the competent authorities have been informed of the blockade, and disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against students who prevent classes and employees who have suspended work.
Later came the ministry's announcement that mid-April is the "deadline" for the start of classes, in order to end the academic year "in a somewhat meaningful and high-quality way."
"Everything after that threatens the quality of teaching and the achievement of results, both in this and in the next academic year, because the necessary studies for this year are extended at the expense of the next," the Ministry of Education stated in a written response to Radio Free Europe's inquiry.
As a modality for compensation, they cite "hybrid" teaching (a combination of regular and online teaching), working Saturdays and an extension of the year.
They add that if the blockades continue, "keeping the status of a student financed from the budget or acquiring that status is at risk."
"If students lose the status of a budget student (and for that they need to achieve 48 ESP points this year), they lose the right to scholarships, loans, accommodation in a dormitory and food in 'canteens' at preferential prices", the ministry stated.
Vučević's threats
On Monday (April 14), Prime Minister of the Government of Serbia in technical mandate, Miloš Vučević, assessed that the months-long student blockades have become unbearable for the citizens and expressed the hope that they will end soon.
"Students have been blocking the streets for months and I think it's really enough now. People can't live like this anymore. The state has shown that it controls the situation on the ground, and I don't know which country would endure something like this for a full six months," added Vucevic.
He expressed hope that the blockades will end soon and that life will become more normal in the next month.
"I think the blockades will last a little longer, although I am not completely at peace, I believe that in the next month we will see the normalization of life," Vucevic concluded for K1 TV.
On the same day, the name of the candidate for the new Minister of Education arrived. It is about Dejan Vuk Stanković. He is the only professor of the Faculty of Teacher Education who, right at the beginning of the student blockade of this faculty, spoke out against the students in the blockade, at the meeting of the Dean's College and heads of departments.
Two months ago, Stanković assessed that the blockages in connection with the fourth student request went "in the direction of political requests that have little to do with improving the position of students and universities in the process of studying and teaching."
"I think the game here is much broader, that there is a political stake here and that meeting these demands does not necessarily mean the end of the blockades. There are three more demands, no one knows why there is a wall of silence regarding their fulfillment, while it is obvious that some of those demands have almost certainly been fulfilled," said Dejan Vuk Stanković at the time.
One of the students with whom "Vreme" spoke says that Dejan Vuk Stanković was set up in order to repress students, professors, deans and rectors.
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