Albania MPs Back Controversial Education Law

Albania's parliament adopted controversial government-sponsored higher educational reforms at 2.30am on Wednesday after nine hours of debate. The law was approved by 78 votes out of 140.

Outside parliament, protesters, professors and civil rights activists protested against the law that they call an attack on public universities.

The new law enables private universities to declare themselves public institutions and, as such, draw on funds allocated from the state budget in various forms, such as funds for scientific research.

A number of professors from the public universities have said the law undermines the autonomy of higher education, and increases the likelihood of state intervention in academic life.

Meanwhile, a left-wing student group, For the University Movement, also protested against the law, demanding free higher education for everyone.

Responding to their protests, the Minister of Education, Lindita Nikolla, said: "We will not be stopped by a small group, trying to blackmail this assembly [by saying] that approval of this law will destroy higher education".

Prime Minister Edi Rama called the protesters as an opposition invention and dubbed the professors backing them "a caste that has kidnapped the state university".

Responding to their description of the law as a scandal, he added: "The scandal is in fact that we aim to destroy this caste that has kidnaped the state university to turn it in a banality.

"For me, setting apart the state university - because it is not public - as the university that belongs to the mother, from the private university, as belonging to the stepmother, is like belonging to a world that doesn't exist," Rama added.

Artan Fuga, the leading professor criticizing the law,...

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