Students in North Macedonia continue to face numerous problems, such as student standards, problems with public transport, poor living conditions in dormitories, and the inability to work. They believe that they are not a priority for the authorities. According to them, the issue is not whether to be or not to be a student in Macedonia. The issue is whether they should fight to the end, so that their problems are solved. This conclusion was reached, among others, by young students in a debate on the topic: “To be or not to be a student in North Macedonia.” The students shared their experiences and offered concrete suggestions regarding some of the problems they face daily. This debate is organized by the Association for the Advancement of Journalistic Practices “Innovative Media,” within which the portal “Portalb” operates, together with the organization “Forum for Educational Change.”
Even though they were invited to hear about the students’ problems, there were no representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science present.
Public transport and high prices are a daily “headache” for students
One student from Gevgelija, Marija Jovanovska, who studies in Skopje, says transport is one of the problems the students face daily. Sharing her own experiences, she pointed out that ticket prices are also very high.
“A return ticket from Gevgelija to Skopje costs 900 denars. There are students who go home every weekend, it is expensive,” said Jovanovska.
She said that the solution to this problem could be to follow the example of Ohrid, where students get a 30% discount on the ticket price.
“I urge all the municipalities and the government to apply this measure—the discount for students, throughout the whole country,” said Jovanovska.
She also mentioned that you can travel to Gevgelija by train for a cheaper price, but there should still be more transportation lines.
“For me, traveling by train works better, regardless of the journey taking longer, I would urge them to restore the lines as soon as possible, to have trains during the day as well, trains are a more interesting story, sometimes during my travels, they happened to break down, so we had to wait, or there were other different problems, “she said.
We are not satisfied with the conditions, but we must begin with ourselves
Recently, a National Student Body has been established in Macedonia. Sheval Ziza, from the student body pointed out that the state of the students and the conditions in the country are not good. He believes that with proper organization, changes can be made.
“We must begin with ourselves, find colleagues similar to ourselves, and change the current situation,” says Ziza.
He also added that actions should be promoted when there are concrete results, not just announcements by the institutions.
“We are here to motivate the students, to tell them that together, we can create change,” he added.
The example of Slovenia should be extended to us as well
Milena Gligorova, a student from Macedonia, who is studying in Slovenia, gave suggestions on how to improve the situation here, taking a not-so-distant country as an example. She completed her undergraduate studies in Ljubljana and is now pursuing her master’s studies in Maribor. She explained that studies in Slovenia are free and that only a few small sums are paid for certain things.
Gligorova explained that even though they are students from foreign countries, in Slovenia, they have a lot of opportunities and advantages.
“The question of working during studies is regulated by the student services, which allows us students to work in several companies,” says Gligorova.
She explained that when it comes to public transportation, the monthly tickets for students in Ljubljana cost 20 euros, while in Maribor, they cost 17 euros. She further spoke about the student voucher system that allows food to be purchased in many restaurants for a small cost.
“All of these things make studying and student life easier for us. It would be good to apply this model in North Macedonia as well,” said Gligorova.
FECH: We are not a priority for the institutions; we have a specific proposal for public transport
Education and students are not a priority for this country, says the Forum for Educational Change (FECH). Viktorija Postolovska from this organization said the reason behind the absence of representatives from the Ministry of Education and Science is that these problems are not a priority for them.
“Education is not a priority here. Student experiences show that the situation is not good. The non-governmental sector and students do more for one another than the state itself,” said Postolovska.
She pointed out that there are a lot of problems and that priorities should be set in this direction. One of the problems she emphasized, among others, is the employment of students and the proper conditions in this direction, because as she said, it is not as if students don’t want to work. “We need student exchanges, dormitories, and cooperation between universities,” she emphasized.
FECH is working on a concrete proposal to meet the wishes of students in relation to public transport and it is based on the Slovenian model. The Executive Director of FECH, Blendi Hodai, stated there are 13 thousand students in Skopje who come from other cities. He further added that in Tetovo, the number of students who come from other cities is also high.
“Our proposal is based on finding a solution for the transfer of the Slovenian public transport system to North Macedonia, and it will be presented to the public on the 19th of December,” said Hodai.
