Russian television channel REN TV presented a recent strike called by the faculty of Ukraine’s Medical University as a strike organized by the students. REN refers to a post on the University’s official Facebook page declaring the strike. In the comments to that post however, it becomes clear that the students have nothing to do with the strike and do not support it at all. During a press conference the students organized the following day, they made it clear they did not support the strike and said it was sabotaging their academic semester.
In calling for the strike, the leadership of the National Medical University claimed that Ukraine’s Health Ministry had exceeded its authority by interfering in the work of the university, sponsored corruption, and unlawfully suspended the dean and blocked student stipends and faculty salaries.
Ukraine’s Health Ministry meanwhile called on the university to continue lectures and explained that salaries and students’ stipends are paid by the university treasury and not the Ministry. The ministry’s statement also explains that the dean is suspended pending the investigation of why a required annual national state exam was not held at the university.
The student press conference as well as social media are awash with student complaints about the strike. The students are outraged that the university decided to play politics at their expense and write about the corruption prevalent at the Medical University.
Nobody asked us about this strike, why create this fake picture as if we support this, writes one student, while another asks why the university’s corrupt faculty should be settling scores at the students’ expense.
