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Student protest in Brussels

Students from various Flemish university towns gathered in Brussels today to protest against a hike in tuition fees. Some 2,000 students marched to the Flemish parliament, where a delegation was invited to talk to Flemish education minister Hilde Crevits.
Nicolas Maeterlinck

The students were protesting against the higher education budget cuts and the raising of tuition fees. The students left Ms Crevits’s office empty-handed. “Not the tuition fees are the stumbling block to higher education, but students choosing the wrong degree are”, Ms Crevits maintained.

The student unions are displeased that no one contacted them when the budget cuts were being devised. “Even today, there’s a lack of professors and assistants and the tuition fees are too high already. More cuts will be detrimental to our universities”, said Bram Roelandt, chairman of the Flemish Student Union (VVS).

Hilde Crevits (Christian democrat) emphasised that the budget cuts are absolutely inevitable: “All our educational institutions combined will have to save 190 million euros.”

Bram Roelandt said the students had had a “constructive conversation”, but left empty-handed. “We will keep protesting” he told VRT News. The protest lasted until 16u30.
 

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