Skopje, 21 March 2024 (MIA) – Students and staff at the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering (FCSE) staged a protest Thursday in front of the Government, voicing their dissatisfaction with the studying conditions and demanding a suitable building for the Faculty.

The Dean of the Faculty, Professor Boro Jakimovski, said the Faculty has more than 5.000 students who are attending lectures in eight different buildings.

“For the past several years, we’ve had a really pressing issue regarding the organization of lectures. Lectures are currently being held in eight different buildings, from 8am until 9pm. We are investing fully in the adaptation of the existing buildings at the campus, since they belong to other faculties and need to be adapted,” Jakimovski said.

According to Jakimovski, making the current building of the Bureau for Development of Education available to the Faculty would be a simple remedy until a permanent solution can be found.

“We have been extremely flexible over the past 13 years. We’ve been hoping on all the promises that all the governments have made. Some have been fulfilled, but, of course, we have the largest faculty in the country that admits the best high school graduates, these are our children studying at the faculty and I think that the country should do its utmost to improve the conditions,” the Faculty’s Dean said.

The protest comes after a series of conclusions adopted by the management of the Faculty at a session held on March 18, with which the Faculty asked the Government to make the building of the Bureau for Development of Education available for the Faculty to use temporarily or permanently, free of charge. It also asked the Government to relocate the Bureau for Development of Education and secure the appropriate premises for it within three months.

The Bureau for Development of Education came out with a reaction to the Faculty’s requests, stating that it supports the Faculty in its efforts to secure adequate conditions for lectures and permanently solve the issue with the Faculty’s lack of premises, but opposes the potential relocation of the Bureau.

Photo: MIA