Levica proposes student meal subsidy equal to 1% of the minimum net wage and full academic-year coverage
Proposed law would index the daily grant to the minimum net wage and extend eligibility to regular and part‑time students for the entire academic year.
On 21 September 2026 MPs from the opposition party Levica submitted proposed amendments to the Law on Subsidised Student Meals that would replace the current fixed daily grant with a value indexed to wages and expand eligibility to more students and days of the academic year.
Key change: subsidy tied to minimum net wage
The draft law responds to what the proposers describe as years of under-adjustment by the Ministry of Education and Science and the loss of purchasing power for students. The proposal would set the daily meal subsidy at exactly 1% of the country’s minimum net wage and require the subsidy to rise automatically whenever the minimum wage is legally increased.
“It is proposed that the amount of the subsidy for subsidized student meal shall amount to 1% of the minimum net wage established in the Republic of North Macedonia, with an obligation for automatic adjustment of the subsidy whenever there is a statutory increase of the minimum wage, in order to avoid further situations in which the Ministry of Education and Science neglects its obligations,” the proposing MPs write in the draft.
The text points to official data from the State Statistical Office (DZS) showing a rise in living costs: a 3.5% increase in 2024 compared with 2023, a 2.9% rise in the “Food and non-alcoholic beverages” group in 2024, and a 9.9% jump in the “Restaurants and hotels” group that year. In 2025 overall living costs increased by 4.1% compared with 2024.
Currently the fixed support for a student meal stands at 140 denars and, under existing rules, only regular students whose income does not exceed the minimum net wage qualify. The proposed law would make both regular and part‑time (extramural) students eligible for the subsidy for the whole academic period from 1 October to 1 July, including weekends and public holidays, and the proposers request an expedited parliamentary procedure.
Photo: press material from the event
