Higher education students across the country mark Student’s Day today with a march through Lisbon, demanding affordable housing, an end to tuition fees and more investment in social support.
"Students are on the streets, the struggle goes on": this was one of the slogans heard at the demonstration that brought hundreds of higher education students onto the streets of Lisbon, in a march that began at Rossio and ended outside the Assembleia da República, Portugal's parliament.
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"We want higher education for everyone, but fewer and fewer students are entering higher education, and it is the poorest who are hardest hit, because they simply cannot get in," the spokesperson for the Students' Association of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences at NOVA University Lisbon, one of the organisers of the protest, told Lusa.
The lack of affordable housing, high tuition fees and shortcomings in the student welfare system were the main demands.
Battleground tuition fees
On the same day, the education minister argued that cutting tuition fees would be a "regressive" measure that would be "placing the entire burden of higher education on society". That is why, he said, the ministry's position is that "tuition fees should in fact be updated in line with the inflation rate", Fernando Alexandre told reporters at the end of a meeting with student leaders at the Teatro Thalia.
Despite advocating an increase, Fernando Alexandre did not confirm that it would go ahead, adding that the issue would still have to be debated as part of the State Budget.
Asked about another of the students' demands, namely halls of residence, the minister gave assurances there would be an increase of more than 14,000 beds in the next academic year.
More than 50 organisations from the Student Association Movement (MAE) from across the country took part, including students' associations, academic groups, tunas, traditional student music groups, and residents' committees.
Hundreds of students had already turned out in Lisbon at the end of October last year, in protest at a government proposal to increase tuition fees.
However, the proposal was voted down in parliament, with votes against from PCP, Chega, PS, PAN, Livre and BE.