Belgrade University rector: It would be an honor to join the student ticket

For the past year, students across Serbia have been staging blockades at various schools and colleges of all universities. University heads were faced with a choice: support the students’ demands or align with the government and wait for the situation to resolve itself, nova.rs recalled.

Professor Djokic chose the former, standing in solidarity with his students. This decision has made him a frequent target of the ruling regime and pro-regime media, some of which have gone so far as to suggest he should be arrested.

In his New Year’s interview, the rector addressed government claims that these student blockades have caused interest in Belgrade’s universities to plummet. He also spoke about the systemic pressure and harassment currently faced by high schoolers, teachers, and university staff.

Pro-regime media and government officials claim the blockades have driven prospective students away. Is there any truth to that?

Pro-government media and officials are constantly misleading the public, presenting false information that interest in our university schools and colleges has collapsed, that there is an insufficient number of students, and that students are leaving. This is absolutely not true. Their rhetoric only serves to show their true attitude toward higher education and Serbia’s public universities. I will share some data showing why this isn’t true. This year, the University of Belgrade enrolled exactly 89,366 students across all levels -undergraduate, Master’s, and PhD. Compared to last year’s 89,639, that is a decrease of only 0.3 percent. Regarding freshmen, we enrolled 11,990 students compared to last year’s 12,272 – a drop of about 2.3 percent. This decline has been a consistent trend for eight years now, and it is not a result of the blockades. It is the result of two social factors: depopulation, which means there are fewer potential students entering the system, and the increasing number of private higher education institutions opening up.

You mentioned you would accept an invitation to join the students’ electoral list. Have you received a formal offer yet?

I stand by what I said at the beginning: if I am included on the student list, it will be an honor and a pleasure. The students have my support. They are being very cautious in putting together their list for a number of reasons, they have their own criteria and are careful about which names they put forward. I full respect that and I believe it is up to them to decide when the right moment is to go public. At this point, we don’t know if or when elections will be held, maybe they won’t be held, so why should the students rush to release a list now. It is unacceptable that students are asked to release their list when so many unknowns remain, and when actually no one has information on what will happen and how. But they have my unwavering support.