UNIVERSITIES failed to follow the rules in raising tuition fees in the course of the 2008/2009 academic year, and 18 out of 20 of them broke the law, the Sme daily has reported. The For Fair Tuition initiative, which represents students, and the Slovak Governance Institute (SGI) have highlighted the issue.
The only universities to conform to the law were the University of Veterinary Medicine in Košice and Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica. According to the SGI, half of the remaining 18 universities were late publishing their tuition fees, in some cases by as much as a year. Some universities did not publish the amount at all.
The universities have not admitted any failure and have not paid damages to students; the initiative For Fair Tuition therefore says it will sue them. Their first complaint, against Comenius University in Bratislava, was filed in October 2008, Sme wrote.
The SGI has called on the universities involved to apologise to their students and compensate them for the damages caused. At the same time, the SGI called on the Education Ministry to pass the information about violations of the law represented by the illegal raising of tuition fees to the police.
18. May 2009 at 0:00 | Compiled by Spectator staff from press reports