Students demand higher subsidised meal; government offers electronic vouchers

Students continue to push for an increase in the subsidised student meal and say they have spent two years waiting for clarity on if — and by how much — the state will raise the benefit. They warn that if authorities do not respond to their demands, they will use an upcoming student referendum to decide next steps.

At a meeting yesterday with the prime minister and Education Minister Vesna Janevska, students asked for the meal subsidy to be raised from 140 to 200 denars. Instead of a concrete commitment on the amount, the government proposed changing how the subsidy is used by introducing electronic vouchers.

Structure and purpose of the proposed system

The government’s voucher model would replace the current separate student cards, on which 840 denars are disbursed, with electronic vouchers that can only be accepted by selected operators selling food. Minister Janevska explained the aim of the system: “The purpose of this system is for the subsidy to be used for healthy food, which was the intention of the law, and to be used for its true purpose, meaning that they should not be able to use it for alcohol, cigarettes and other things that they commonly buy according to their statements and according to what can be seen in the city. They will be able to use it everywhere where certain operators who will sell them exclusively food are designated,” said Vesna Janevska, Minister of Education and Science.

Student leaders maintain that the core issue is the amount. “We plan to finish this by next week, but the students’ answer on a systemic change is not dependent on the change of the meal amount because students will use the subsidised meal both while they have the cards and while they use electronic vouchers. So it is not disputed whether we will have a new system; what is disputed is when the state will increase this subsidised student meal. I hope the state will be aware that students are the future of this country, but the future does not come in 10 years, in 15 years, students are now. Students need a meal now and the state must invest in students now so that later students can contribute to this economy,” said Angela Vasilevska, president of USS UKIM.

Talks between student representatives and the authorities are ongoing and an increase has been announced, but the exact new amount has not been specified. Students have also complained that the student meal sum has not been increased for three years and that legal provisions have not been respected.

Student organisers say the referendum will ask pupils about issues affecting them and about current problems they face, and that its results will guide further action if the government does not provide a satisfactory response.

Photo: press material from the event