The new academic year, Berisha: Rent, prices and fees are making the university a 'forbidden apple'

The head of the DP, Sali Berisha, has brought back to attention the problems faced by students today on the first day of the new academic year.

In a statement to the media at the PD headquarters, Berisha said that rents, prices and fees are making the university a 'forbidden apple' for young people.

Berisha : The first day of opening the doors of the country's universities is not a good day for Albania and Albanians.

It is not a good day, because this year 15 percent fewer students enter the country's universities than a year ago.

And, enter the country's banks, almost half of those who enter universities in 2012-2013.

So there is a dramatic drop in the number of students at a time when Albania has a vital need to overcome the terrible backwardness it inherited from the past, for an increasing number of its citizens to graduate from universities.

But it is not only the decrease in the number of students that is a major problem for the country and higher university education. Another very big problem is the economic situation of students in Albania.

Students in Tirana start their university year in the third city with the highest rents in Europe. More expensive!

Meanwhile, the Albanian government has not provided even a penny of compensation for the stratospheric increase in residential rents. It has not provided a single penny of compensation for the stratospheric growth of food and services in the city of Tirana.

Thus, students face this year, just like citizens, with food prices 7-10 percent more expensive than in EU member countries.

But the fees they have to pay for registration in the country's universities are absurd and punishing for students.

These fees are several times higher in proportion to salaries than in all other European countries.

These tariffs are nominally several times higher than in Germany, Austria, France, Greece, Slovenia, Italy and other countries.

These fees de facto make the education of the second or third child unaffordable for more than 60 percent of Albanian families.

These fees, along with high rents and food prices, make the university a forbidden apple.