TIRANA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama appealed on Monday to students, who have been protesting for rising fees for the seventh day in a row, to meet and discuss their requests.
In a live stream connection Rama said that only if the government and the students sit and talk, they will be able to have lower fees and a concrete plan for the campus in Tirana.
Rama also promised that he will discharge all board members chosen by the government in universities.
"We can do more than halving fees. Besides halving fees based on meritocracy, we could offer free fees for those who receive economic welfare, and those who have excellent grades," said Rama.
He said that the government will plan for new campus in Tirana and that the current dormitories will have intervention worth 18 million euros (about 20.4 million U.S. dollars).
Meanwhile, the students responded negatively to the invitations for dialogue sent by the Albanian Ministry of Education and the prime minister.
Students declared that they will keep protesting in front of the Education Ministry and they warned a massive protest on Tuesday.
The opposition parties in the country and youth forums' representatives have made several efforts to join the protest, but the students have rejected them so far.
Albanian students in the capital city Tirana started protesting on Dec. 4 against the rise of fees at universities around the country.
On Dec. 6 the protest spread to other Albanian universities, including public universities in Elbasan, Durres and Korca.
The latest changes in higher education requested students to pay another fee if they choose to take a test for a second time for grade improvement, a decision which was later cancelled by the Ministry of Education.
Currently the students have a list of requirements for the government such as: the improvement of the conditions in the dormitories, a cut in half of the study fees and budget increase for education.
