Vesna Janevska: No intercity student transport subsidies planned

The Ministry of Education and Science has not planned free or subsidized intercity transport for students at this time, Education Minister Vesna Janevska said on 4 September 2026.

Minister: city transport covered, intercity is not

Answering reporters' questions about students who commute daily from other towns to university centres and face higher ticket prices, Janevska said that free transport is provided only where conditions and decisions allow it. She told journalists at the foundation-stone ceremony for a new sports hall that "Имаат бесплатен превоз во град. Меѓуградски во моментов не сме предвиделе."

Janevska also emphasised that primary and secondary education in the country remain free, while tertiary education carries only a small participation fee. She said, translated from her remarks, that "Студирањето е речиси бесплатно, затоа што имаме минимална партиципација во земјава за студиите. Студентите имаат можности да се запишат на шест државни универзитети и, како што сум информирана, ги избираат оние што најмногу им одговараат."

The minister said the ministry's current priorities are improving education quality, implementing single-shift and full-day schooling, reforming higher-education curricula and preparing a new Higher Education Act.

Janevska made the statements while attending the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone for a new sports hall at Primary School "Bratstvo" in Karpoš. Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and Karpoš Mayor Sotir Lukrovski were present at the event.

Students and local officials have raised concerns about rising intercity ticket costs; the ministry's response indicates that any change to subsidise intercity travel would require specific decisions and conditions before it could be introduced.

Photo: press material from the event