Dagestan: hunger-striking students threaten to quit university if their demands are not met till end of week

A group of students of the Dagestan State Pedagogical University (DSPU) has stated that they will take their documents and quit the DSPU in case if the university's administration fails to respond to their demand to cancel the merger of the faculties. Zaur Kurbanov, the head of the Committee on Youth Affairs, has urged the university's administration to pay attention to the position of students.

On October 16, more than 200 students of the DSPU went on sit-down strike to protest against the merger of two faculties, namely, the Engineering-Pedagogical and Technology-Economic Faculties. According to the protesters, as a result of the merger of two faculties, they will get the wrong profession and not the profession they choose when entering the DSPU.

On October 17, a group of young people with posters in their hands entered streets; however, the police did not allow them to hold a rally. Three protesters were brought to administrative responsibility. On October 21, the students went on indefinite hunger strike.

Till present, the university's administration has not responded to the protestors' intention to quit the DSPU.

It should be added that on September 22, the "Rosobrnadzor" (Russian Federal Agency for Education and Science) banned the Dagestan State Pedagogical University to accept students. Several days later, the ban was lifted, since it turned out that the DSPU suffered because of its regional branches, which were under reorganization by that time and which were only completing education of their students.