Author: Ina Allkanjari
For months, the economic crisis has affected various sectors of citizens' lives as a result of the increase in the prices of a number of consumer products or Services. Students are also exposed among the vulnerable layers, many of whom have not hesitated to sign the petitions for financial support. From an in-depth observation of "Sinjalizo" it is noticed that many young people, although they work, find themselves in economic difficulties to cope with the bills, the heaviest of them is the rent payment, which this season is mostly paid in euros and has increased significantly.
While trying to finish his higher studies, Enzo Meta is facing daily price increases in the country. Currently a third-year bachelor's student at the Agricultural Institute for Veterinary Medicine, Meta admits to "Sinjalizo" that the prices have influenced the decisions he is making, since he has to take out 35 Lek from his pocket just for the monthly rent.
" I lived in a rented house for the first two years, but this year it was economically impossible because the rent prices have increased excessively, so I am trying to register in the dormitories of the Agricultural Institute ," says the young man, who in order to pay the bills has to work 8 hours every day, the second shift and often the third shift.
Another young woman is waiting to start the academic year and meanwhile, as a second-year bachelor's student in Tirana, she did not even discuss that her shelter this year is the dormitory. Sibora Gjini tells "Signalizo" that this choice is directly related to money.
"Although it should be the place that has the best offers for students, in Student City, the prices are very expensive. I have worked to afford the prices to pursue studies in Tirana, my parents have also helped me, but it is very difficult".
Asked about the students' requests for financial support from the state during this period, the student says that she is skeptical and does not believe that the state institutions will turn their eyes on them.
The parents are poor, the state does not help them
As a result of the increase in costs and the inability of parents to provide economic support to afford higher studies, some young people have started working near their cities without completing basic education.
Klejdi's dream has always been to pursue higher studies in Mechatronics, a branch that he won in the first round. While telling "Sinjalizo" that he has completed high school for electric cars in Fier, the young man emphasizes that he worked before coming to the capital in an electric car service 10 to 12 hours a day. " I had to work to save some money, and here in Tirana I found a job in the afternoon in a car service because that's the only way I can afford higher studies. I live in Student City and employment is the only solution I see to cover school expenses ," the young man from Fier complains like the others.
Experts: Students are not supported
Economy expert, Klodian Muço tells "Sinjalizo" that Albania has not yet taken any concrete measure in terms of student support.
"The truth is that we have a significant increase in the cost of living, the increase in the prices of food products that ranges from 20-50% in some cases. It is enough to check what happened to the prices of the basket from last year to today, or even many other products".
An extra hardship for students is the cost of rents which continue to rise.
" The problem is what can we do in this case, will concrete measures be taken like in Kosovo, to at least partially cope with the price increase. This is a complex problem and they must also have support from the Government, although of course the government's possibilities in this situation are not many," suggests the expert.
According to Mr. The only solution that can be offered is to consider students who come from families with low economic income. They should be offered a direct economic support of 100 euros per month for a certain period or be offered a subsidy for the payments they make for sleeping.
No "green light" for the students' petition
Although the government has launched two packages so far, in both of them students are not included. In order to attract the attention of the state authorities, the students created two petitions and sent them to the Co-Government Office and the Ministry of Education, where they asked for a bonus of about 10 lek to cope with the crisis.
The first petition was completed in June of this year. The Movement for the University collected the signatures of about 5000 students who requested economic relief measures.
Arlind Qori, activist of the Movement for the University and also a lecturer at the University of Tirana, in the Faculty of Social Sciences, tells "Sinjalizo" that students are the category most affected by the increase in costs, along with pensioners. According to him, the petition carried out a few months ago did not yield results as the students were left out of the social resistance package.
" We made a petition a few months ago, where students demanded that the government take measures to cope with the crisis, while they told us that we halved the fees 4 years ago. We are waiting for the start of the academic year because at the moment students are not in the faculties, so it is difficult to mobilize ," says the activist of the Movement for the University, emphasizing that they will continue to issue this issue until the government provides a solution.
Anxhela Nasto, a student of the Faculty of Social Sciences and an activist of the Movement for the University, tells "Sinjalizo" that despite the firms, they did not receive any offer for a solution.
" We received a response that the Ministry does not have funds for our request. We have tried several times and the Ministry gives the same response, saying that we have made other facilities for students. Since the government does not want to provide assistance to students from an institutional point of view, we have thought about working and organizing ourselves at universities because we did not get any solution even with the firms that gathered ," says Nasto.
In the response of the Ministry of Education to the request of the Movement for the University within the petition, MAS makes available some VKM and changes that have been implemented since 2018 for students.
The students did not stop there but continued to implement other initiatives and petitions, asking for financial support from the state. On September 19, the second petition was launched, this time online via the "Students Report" portal.
After collecting about 6000 signatures, in a request addressed to the Prime Minister's Office, where the Ministry of Education is informed, this time the students demand that the Government support them with an amount of 100 euros every month until the economic crisis passes.
" Today, rents have gone up by at least 300 euros and the food basket has increased by over 60%. We appeal to you on behalf of the students that the Government and the Ministry of Education take the necessary steps and create a special budget to help students ," the request to the Prime Minister's Office reads, among other things.
Aurel Kujtimi, an activist at the "Students Denoncojne" portal, told "Sinjalizo" that students today are skeptical since petitions were made earlier and no positive response was received. He indicates that the Office of Co-governance has delegated their request to MAS.
" We requested economic support from the government with an amount of at least 100 euros. If we look at housing prices, the rent has gone up to around 300 euros in the capital for a 1+1 house where 3 students can live, so they pay around 100 euros each, so we thought it appropriate to at least remove this expense during this period where prices are unaffordable," said activist Aurel Kujtimi, underlining that since the price increase, students have not been helped in any way.
The students of Durrës between the increase in prices and the lack of dormitories
Affected by the increase in prices are also young people who attend higher studies at the University of Durra. For several months, they have been facing an increase in the cost of rental housing and a lack of university dormitories, while intercity transport tickets have increased.
Enada Hoxha has completed her bachelor's studies in Political Science at the University of Durrës, while this new academic year she is starting her master's studies at the same university. She tells "Sinjalizo" that she lives in Tirana and to pursue higher studies for years she has had to travel the "Tirana-Durrës" route, back and forth.
" For me as a student, I can say that it is very difficult to go back and forth to Durrës 5 times a week. If the lecture starts at 08:30, I have to wake up around 5:30 to get ready, take the bus and go to school," says the student, emphasizing that this situation arises because the university does not have dormitories and the costs of renting apartments are high.
"There are no dormitories in Durrës, the university campus offers dormitories but they are not convenient for the price you pay, so there are no proper dormitories like here in Tirana," says Enada, adding that she has to take two buses to get from Tirana to the University of Durrës.
Furthermore, the young woman points out that with the increase in prices, the bus ticket and many other costs increased, so she was forced to get a job during the third academic year to cover the expenses.
"It's stress and financial cost, to cover the expenses, I had to work last year. I found a job in Tirana that suited my school schedule and also allowed me to afford it," Enada told "Sinjalizo".
Miriam Reçi, lecturer at the University of Durrës, tells "Sinjalizo" that the fact that there are still no dormitories is because it is the latest regional university to open and it cannot be compared to Elbasan or Vlora since they have been open for many years.
"In addition to paying rent for a house, which you can find for a minimum of 15 thousand new lek in suburban areas, which you can't find in the city center at this price, students will have to pay for the bus ticket," the pedagogue says, while underlining that the lack of dormitories makes living difficult precisely this year when prices have increased.
"Normally, even attending the "Tirana-Durrës" round-trip lesson has a cost, as the intercity bus alone costs 180 lek, so about 400 lek per day," says pedagogue Reçi.
Ministry of Education and student requirements
Asked if the Ministry of Education has provided funds to help students due to the increase in costs, former deputy minister of education, Olti Rrumbullaku, tells "Sinjalizo" that the students' request is impossible to meet.
"It is impossible to meet the students' request to benefit from around 10.000 lek each month for each student pursuing higher education in the country. If such a thing were to be realized, if you do a calculation, the entire fund of the Ministry of Education would have to go only to support them, cutting off all other items," said Rrumbullaku.
Allocation of the Higher Education budget
Focusing on the Higher Education budget and its distribution, economics expert Klodian Muço shows that the budget for universities continues to be a major problem. “Facts are facts, 2.92% of GDP goes to education in Albania, while the EU average is 5%, which is clearly shown here”. According to the expert, in many years during this 10-year period, the budget for education has decreased. “We are talking about the budget that goes to education in relation to GDP, not in value, in weight ”, emphasizes Muço.
Regarding the Higher Education budget, education expert Ndriçim Mehmeti lists for "Sinjalizo" some points where MASR should focus to improve the situation. According to him, a budget of 5% of GDP is needed for education as a whole, as was foreseen in the governing program of 2013.
" Secondly, higher education necessarily requires an investment in infrastructure, salaries, university campuses, etc. at the rate of 1.5% of GDP and 1% as a start for scientific research, which is at the lowest level in the region," says the education expert.
"Sinjalizo" addressed a request for information to the Ministry of Education, where, among other things, we requested the complete financial statements of the budget for higher education for the academic year 2021-2022 and what is foreseen for this academic year 2022-2023. Until the publication of this article, we are still waiting for a response from this institution.
Meanwhile, an analysis of their financial expenses for the 2020-2021 academic year is presented in a report carried out earlier by the Civic Center where six public universities were monitored.
It is noted that in five out of six universities monitored by the Civic Center, the essential part of the expenses is occupied by the expenses for the personnel categorized in category two. Only the University of Tirana makes a difference, which has the largest expenses in category three "Investments", followed by category five "Providing Services", this was also influenced by the reconstruction of the Faculty of Economics building.
Tirana Municipality promises support for students
The only positive reaction promising support for students during this period where costs have increased, came a few days ago from the mayor Erion Veliaj.
"Our proposal is to subsidize part of the dormitory bill. It's true that students are not residents of Tirana, but 9 out of 10 students stay in Tirana after graduating from university and since dormitory costs have increased, we will have to make an important decision, to subsidize at least half of the dormitory bill or about half, to ensure that students are not impacted by this situation," the mayor said.
Another point, where Veliaj stopped, are student subscriptions, proposing that in this time of crisis they are given for free by showing the Student Card.
What did Kosovo do differently?
After being affected by the economic crisis in April, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, presented several measures with the aim of financial support for citizens, at the time of rising prices in the country.
In a joint conference with the Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Hekuran Murat, Prime Minister Kurti said that families with social assistance, pensioners, public and private sector workers and students will be helped with 100 euros each. The total value of all these measures, Kurti said, is over 100 million euros and about 800 thousand citizens would benefit from these measures.
In June, the Government of Kosovo announced that it made a payment of 100 euros to about 46 Kosovar students. Elienta Culaj, a Design student in Prishtina, tells "Sinjalizo" about the economic aid offered by the government.
"For the second time, the Kosovo government has made a decision that anyone who has economic problems, whether a student or an administration employee, can apply to receive the amount of 100 euros once a year," says the student from Kosovo.
According to her, despite the crisis situation, students in Prishtina manage to make ends meet with 30 euros per week.
"I live in Pristina in a rented house, but I haven't felt the price increase much, I cope with the current situation with help from my family without having to work," says the student.
Merheme Goliqi, another student from Kosovo, who attends higher education for Psychology in Prishtina, tells "Sinjalizo" that she lives in a dormitory and according to her, the students who may be most affected by the crisis are those who live in rented apartments.
"Students who live in dormitories pay 50 euros for the building and can spend about 100 euros per month, which includes transportation and food. This is because we consume food in canteens where the prices are very economical. Students who live in rented apartments can spend more than 200 euros since they buy their own food," says the student from Kosovo.
