TIRANA, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- For a third day in a row, hundreds of Albanian students took to the streets on Thursday, protesting against the rise of fees at universities around the country.
During the protest organized by "For the University Movement", the students blocked the entrance of the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth, demanding the cancellation of another fee rise approved by the Albanian government in May this year.
The students also request the current tuition fees for master degree studies to be cut in half from around 1,500 euros (about 1,707 U.S. dollars) a year.
On Wednesday, Deputy Minister of Education, Sports and Youth Besa Shahini tried to negotiate with the students by asking to meet their representatives, but was refused.
On Wednesday, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama tweeted that the government decision on raising fees was made as a result of requests by the universities.
"The Minister has suggested to the universities to revise the decision," Rama added in his tweet.
On Thursday, the protest spread to other Albanian universities, including public universities in Elbasan, Durres and Korca.
The latest changes in higher education request students to pay another fee if they choose to take a test for a second time for grade improvement.
Later on Thursday, Lindita Nikolla, Minister of Education and Sport, said at a press conference that the article 4 of Council of Ministers decision will be repealed and therefore the students who have failed tests will not pay any fees for a repeat test.
