Tuition and living costs exceed the needs of thousands of students in Lisbon

The abolition of tuition fees and improved living conditions for students are old demands, and this Thursday they were again at the center of the slogans of thousands of students demonstrating in Lisbon.

For more than two hours, thousands of university students marched through the streets of the capital, between Rossio Square and the Assembly of the Republic, as part of a routine demonstration dedicated to National Students’ Day, celebrated on March 24, called by associations from various higher education institutions.

“Scholarship yes, tuition no”, “Tuition fees and Bologna are all a disgrace” or “Education is a right, nothing gets done without it” are slogans memorized by several generations of students and repeated today, reflecting old problems to which young people continue to wait for an answer.

“The first major obstacle to higher education is the tuition fee,” emphasized Constansa Viegas Martins, a student at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Porto.

On the day that PSD leader Luis Montenegro was appointed prime minister, a young woman admitted that she was looking at the election results with concern and hoped that the new government would not increase tuition fees, emphasizing that what the students were really defending was the abolition of the death penalty. executions.

“It is important that students say what they want from higher education and that they do not fail,” also stressed Marta Boavista from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Lisbon.

Also top of the demands was student accommodation, a barrier that young people say has been growing in recent years, even going beyond tuition fees.

“Most of the student budget goes to housing,” said Mariana Barbosa, vice-president of the Lisbon Academic Federation, recalling that the average price of a room in Lisbon is about 450 euros.

As a representative of the capital’s students, he said that more and more young people are thinking about quitting their studies because they are unable to bear expenses that even scholarships and social support cannot cover.

“We have received many complaints from students who were hoping to get a place in a state hostel but were unable to do so, with rent increases mid-year, who do not have rental agreements for additional housing, or who were evicted during the summer,” – he said.

The National Tertiary Accommodation Plan promises to double the number of beds in university residences by 2030, but students doubt whether the targets will be met and say the impact of the plan will only be felt if it is implemented.” much later”.

“The plan began before the pandemic and has so far had virtually no impact on the quality of life of students. At the moment, those who are applying now do not have direct answers about housing,” said Mariana Barbosa.

In addition to demanding better conditions, the students also celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the revolution, and at the very beginning of the protest, as they began to walk along Rua do Carmo, a group of protesters threw a banner with On the bridge leading to the Santa Justa elevator, it was written: “April is the future,” and the rest shouted: “April 25 always, fascism never again.”

“We remembered what April should be like in higher education. These include free higher education, an end to tuition fees, accommodation of all students in dormitories, more scholarships, more student representation and a review of the legal regime of universities. Higher education institutions, which makes them democratic spaces,” explained Marta Boavista.