Students protesting in the lobbies of the Carelia and Snellmania buildings want to highlight the growing disadvantage among students. Rector Jukka Mönkkönen understands students’ concerns.
Student protests against government budget cuts are expanding in Finland. Students are protesting in the lobby of the Carelia building on the Joensuu Campus and in the lobby of the Snellmania building on the Kuopio Campus. The protest started in the morning of Monday, 25 September 2023.
Through their protest, students want to highlight the growing disadvantage among students and to protest the cuts planned by the Finnish government. According to the student movement behind the protests, the government’s plans to freeze the index of financial aid for students and the planned cuts to housing allowances, together with rising food prices and interest rates, will deepen students’ financial distress. The student movement is also concerned about the unequal economic and social treatment experienced by international students.
As a representative of the university’s leadership, Director of Administration Tuomo Meriläinen met with the protesting students in Joensuu on Monday, and Deans Jussi Pihlajamäki, Sari Rissanen and Kari Lehtinen in Kuopio on Tuesday.
The University of Eastern Finland’s Rector Jukka Mönkkönen understands students’ concerns.
“We are a large scientific community with more than 16,000 degree students. Our students’ everyday well-being and their opportunities to focus on their studies are of paramount importance to our community. If students have to worry about daily subsistence and about their future, it will affect the progress of studies and burdens the entire academic community,” Mönkkönen points out.
Students have previously been protesting in the Universities of Helsinki and Turku, and Aalto University. According to media reports, this week will see student protests not only in the University of Eastern Finland, but also in the Universities of Tampere, Oulu and Jyväskylä, among others.
Updated 26.9.2023: Information about the protest on the Kuopio Campus has been added to text.
