Open Letter to the Prime Minister and Minister Regarding Issues in the Operation of the Student Center in Zagreb

The Student Council of the University of Zagreb has sent an open letter to Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Minister of Science Blaženka Divjak, warning them about issues in the operation of the Student Center and the behavior of the Management towards the student population. The Council states that the Management of the Student Center has been treating students in a stepmotherly manner for years.

It reminds that the circumstances of the fire in the Student Dormitory 'Cvjetno naselje' have never been fully clarified, and it also mentions 'non-transparent management of funds intended for improving student standards, increasingly poor food in cafeterias managed by the Student Center, an increase in rent without visible improvements in accommodation quality', and even the failure to maintain the quality level prescribed by the contract for the renovation of student dormitories financed by the European Union.

What is incorrect

The Student Council believes that all of this is crowned by the refusal to digitalize the business system of the Student Center to facilitate students in obtaining employment contracts and applying for accommodation rights. It claims that there is an attempt to manipulate student representatives by presenting them with lies and emphasizes that no student has objections to the fact that people affected by the earthquake have been placed in their rooms in 'Cvjetno naselje', but they are bothered by the 'astonishingly unprofessional, insincere, and arrogant attitude of the Management of the Student Center towards students'.

– Such an attitude did not stop at the removal of students' property from their rooms and storage under inadequate conditions, where part of the property was damaged or went missing – states the Council and adds that such an attitude continued with inadequate, inaccurate, and untruthful responses to letters in which they tried to obtain answers to questions posed by students and their representatives from the Student Center.

The responses from the Management of the Student Center, the Council believes, are generally unclear and contradictory in media statements and insincere. Therefore, at an extraordinary session of the Assembly of the Student Council, they concluded that the SC, as an institution intended solely for the care of students, must have students and student issues in the focus of its operations.

Student Demands

The SC must resolve all its problems in such a way that students do not feel them; factional struggles within the Workers' Council and among different interest groups should not even exist, let alone be broken on the backs of students. The SC must clearly and transparently show where and how it spends money intended for improving student standards, specifically the fees for processing accommodation application costs in student dormitories, as well as 12 percent of the income from student work mediation.

The Student Center must approach the digitalization of its own operations to facilitate students' daily activities. The Council believes that the Government and the Ministry of Science must conduct an urgent control of the SC's operations and check whether irregularities and omissions have occurred. 

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