Pressures on the University: Professors warn - students decide

University in the announcement that was published after the discussion of the students, dean and rector about the preservation of the University, stated that student requirements sees it as an opportunity to restore trust in institutions and their true action in the interest of citizens, because as stated, high education it must not be the point at which the responsibility of other institutions breaks.

It was also mentioned that and students did not cause the current crisis, but that it can only be overcome through conversation and mutual understanding, in order to ensure the survival of the University.

On the Instagram account of the University of Belgrade, a reminder was published that faculties and universities as a whole are under attack, in addition to the financial and existential threat of teachers and associates.

Continuity of education is highlighted as a public interest, which is why the University of Belgrade invited all students, teaching staff and faculty administrations to jointly participate in ensuring the conditions for the end of the school year and the enrollment of a new generation of students, which is one of the conditions for the formal and essential survival of the University.

 

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From the point of view of the professor - what is the current position of the University?

Biljana Stojković, a professor at the Faculty of Biology at the University of Belgrade, explained to "Vreme" what position the University is in and what its call actually means to students, professors and the rest of the public.

Photo: Marija Janković

"From my perspective as a university professor who unreservedly supports students, I will say that it is a diplomatic phrase, trying to find the place of the whole University in this whole thing," she says.

"The university here is on the receiving end of a major attack by the regime of Aleksandar Vučić, in fact the only institution at the moment that is actively resisting it, thanks of course to the students and professors who support the students," explains Stojković, adding that this student rebellion is absolutely justified, because it raised the energy of the citizens, as it should have happened a long time ago.

"Of course, the University is in a difficult position - on the one hand, of course, there is a danger that the state will do everything it can and now pressure the University to lose its strength, to become irrelevant, to cancel the University's funding because we are "disobedient", directly to the professors, but not only to them but also to the entire institution of the University," says Stojković.

According to him, the announcement of the University is an attempt to buy time, in order to find a way out of the situation in which he is.

Attempt to demolish the University

Professor Stojković stated that she is ready to go to the end, without any compromise, because as she says, "that compromise with this regime has never brought anything good."

"I have the impression that, which is my deep conviction, that Aleksandar Vučić's intention to destroy the University is not from six months ago, but from earlier, the proposal of the Law on Higher Education that we saw aimed at destroying the University even before the student revolts and the fall of the canopy", she reminds, adding that her political view of the whole situation and the regime is that if he bows down now, the situation will be even worse than the current one.

What are you currently working on?

"Everything depends on the students, this attempt by the regime, namely Aleksandar Vučić, to create a gap between students and professors by putting pressure on professors, which is failing. By attacking professors, he is trying to curb our support for students, to create divisions between students and professors and usually between the professors themselves, but for now we stick together," explains Stojković.

Consequently, she pointed to the fact that such a statement by the Rector's Office indicates that the University still supports students.

"Conversations take place within the University, conversations between professors and students and between professors and students. They are continuous," says Stojković.

"We are looking for some way to persevere in all this, in these demands, in this rebellion, and that it costs the students as little as possible. From the position of a professor, I still care the most for the students, but if they decide to go all the way in this, I will absolutely support them, as well as, I think, most of the professors of the University," Professor Stojković concluded.

A call to protect the only functioning institution

Biljana Đorđević, assistant professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences, explained to "Vreme" how much pressure the University is actually under and how she interprets his call for dialogue.

Photo: Jakov Simović

"I read that call as a very urgent appeal to all parties concerned with the preservation of the University, which is under the greatest attack, and I think that it is not understood dramatically enough, certainly not by the rest of the public, and the entire public, but also the rebellious public," explains Đorđević.

She believes that it is not understood under what pressure the University is actually under, and that because of this the current situation boils down to the question of whether some employees receive salaries and how long they can last like that, while "the situation is much more serious than that".

Đorđević adds that a number of students do not understand how much pressure the University is under and believes that there is no dialogue between students, professors and management, at least not to the extent that it is necessary.

"I understand it as a call for that to happen and to find the best solution to protect the University, which is, after all, the duty of the rector and the collegium, to protect the institution. I think it should be the duty of all of us, because unfortunately we got into the situation where from the only institution that was working, we express resistance because other institutions are not working", says Đorđević, adding that everything will be lost if the goal is reached by destroying the only institution that is working.

"The key actor in that dialogue are the students in the blockade who until now simply had some kind of attitude, and it is expected that they initiated the blockades and that they will decide on it when their demands are met. This is not a question now of whether the institution is being protected and ultimately it is also protecting them, because the autonomy of the University protects them as well," Đorđević concluded.