The strike committee of the Bogomolets National Medical University (Kyiv) has called on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to intervene in the situation with the dismissal of the rector of the university, Kateryna Amosova, by the Health Ministry and ensure the holding of an integrated licensed exam.
“Students and labor collective declare an indefinite strike in response to the illegal actions of the Health Ministry, which interferes with the activities of the university… We appeal to all government bodies, the president to intervene in the situation as part of their powers and take measures to protect our rights. We call on the parliament speaker to control the situation. We call on the prime minister to create a commission to investigate the illegal actions of the leadership of the Health Ministry,” a member of the strike committee, dean of the Faculty of Medicine No. 2 Natalia Lytvynova, said at a briefing in Kyiv on Feb.26.
According to her, the committee also called on the Office of the Council of Europe and the EU Delegation to Ukraine “to closely monitor violations of the rights and freedoms of students and staff of the university.”
Lytvynova stressed that acting Health Minister Ulana Suprun did not have the right to remove the rector of the university and appoint an acting rector.
“The minister cannot dismiss a rector chosen by the labor collective. The Health Ministry does not have such a tool – to dismiss one rector and appoint another one,” she said.
According to Lytvynova, a formal reason for Amosova’s dismissal was the disruption of testing 250 dental students.
“Students and teachers declare the inadmissibility of pressure. From now on we are announcing an indefinite strike… Suprun is acting against the university,” she said.
