Mickoski announces higher student meal allowance and additional discounts from new academic year

Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski announced a new model for student meal support that will raise the cash allowance and introduce additional discounts, and said the measures should start to apply at the beginning of the next academic year.

Asked how far the procedure has progressed after student demands for higher meal funding, Mickoski said the Government held talks with legitimate student representatives and has already offered a solution that received a response from the student side.

He said work is underway to refine the model and that its rollout requires software changes and integration with the M-Services platform. "We consider that solution, since it requires software interventions, should be part of the 'M-Services' platform and so on, to start being implemented with the new academic year," Mickoski said.

According to the Prime Minister, the new arrangement will provide a significantly higher amount for the student meal allowance. He added that students will be able to claim extra discounts at certain commercial outlets after they have used the meal funds.

Mickoski also listed other student-oriented steps taken by the Government: one student dormitory has been opened and a second is expected to open by the end of the year.

He said about 50,000 vouchers worth 15,000 denars each have been distributed for the purchase of electronic devices. The Government announced plans to renovate and refurbish eight school and student dormitories and to build university campuses at several universities.

The prime minister framed the new benefits partly in response to remarks by Hodai, who had called for students to be able to eat cheaper steak like public officials. Activists in Skopje have also staged actions comparing the current student meal — reportedly 140 denars in some demonstrations — with the parliamentary menu.

Photo: press material from the event