More than 40 students are staging a protest outside the building of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and demanding that the government cancel its instruction No. 526 dated July 13 on the change of indexing of the population's incomes, including students' stipends.
According to the protesters, the government’s instruction violated the Constitution of Ukraine and has to be cancelled as soon as possible.
According to an Interfax-Ukraine reporter, the students brought to the rally flags of the Batkivschyna Party, UDAR Party, and the Young People’s Movement.
Students refused to talk to a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers that came to them to settle the conflict. According to the students, the government is not going to tackle the problem.
As reported, earlier when asked why students received stipends that were lower by UAH 200 in July, Ukrainian Premier Mykola Azarov said that this happened due to negligence of officials at the Education, Science, Youth and Sports Ministry. He also promised to increase stipends from September 1.
On August 20, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych dismissed First Deputy Social Policy Minister Vasyl Nadraha. On the next day, Azarov said that Nadraha was dismissed as Ukraine’s first deputy minister for social policy due to problems with the payment of stipends to students.
“He’s a diligent employee. But there are moments in the work of any administrator that make you think whether this administrator corresponds to his post or not, and some decisions that were prepared by this official, including the decision on stipends, helped us understand that he does not have enough responsibility,” Azarov said.
