Several hundred young people protested in Bucharest last night against the government's plans to reduce student scholarships, BTA reported. The dissatisfied gathered in the square in front of the university in the Romanian capital. This is their third action within a week.
Some wore T-shirts with the inscription “Don't touch the scholarships“, others chanted “Union of Students in Romania“ and beat drums. They placed a box labeled "donation box," and around it on the ground they arranged posters with the inscriptions "Education is not just for those with money," "You have a budget, we have care," "A magic solution to the deficit: we are cutting the country's future," "The scholarships are ours," "An educated Romania, but by obligation," "Are you still asking me why I want to leave the country?", "We will not fail, we will not leave, we will defend the scholarships," "Scholarships are not charity, they are merit," "You will not make a fortune from scholarships." "Scholarships will not be cut tomorrow, we want justice, not shame", the demonstrators chanted.
At 9 p.m. local (and Bulgarian) time, the group headed to “Victoria“ Square, where the government building is located. The police presence was extremely strong, BTA saw on site.
“We are holding this demonstration to remind the government that limiting the support mechanisms for pupils and students will only make it more difficult for young people from vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds to access education“, said the organizers from the National Union of Student Organizations in Romania, calling the planned measure unfair.
They claim that the scholarship fund of each university will be reduced by 40 percent, and this will make the number of students receiving social scholarships, as well as merit scholarships, much smaller.
At a press conference on Friday, Prime Minister Ilie Bologian said that one billion euros are currently being paid out for scholarships and “this must be reconfigured“.
The new Romanian government is trying to reduce the excessive budget deficit, which last year reached 9.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). It proposes to allocate 10 percent of the minimum net salary for each student when forming the scholarship fund, which is equivalent to an amount of about 220 lei (85 leva), as opposed to the current 370 lei (143 leva), calculated on the basis of 10 percent of the minimum gross salary in November 2024.