A.B. from Gjilan, who graduated this year from the University of Prishtina (UP), could not afford to pay for an apartment and was not accepted in the dormitory. So, she bought another woman’s dormitory ID.
“Two years ago, a woman who was accepted to the dormitory but didn`t want to live there gave me her dormitory ID. I paid her only the price she paid when she got accepted. She didn`t ask extra money from me,” she says.
She didn`t have any problem during her stay in the dormitory.
Living in the dormitory costs 35€ per month (20€ for residence and 15€ for food). Its low cost is one of several reasons why it is more convenient for students to live there rather than in an apartment.
Other students tell of when they do not want to live in the dormitory because they have found other solutions, so they sell the dormitory and cafeteria ID to those who are interested. There are also lots of cases when students illegally (they do not pay for it) stay in the room of a lucky student who has been accepted to the dormitory.
Another “buyer” of the dormitory`s ID says that she bought it because it was difficult for her traveling and studying at the same time.
“Not because I live so far, but because we have a lot of work to do at home and I have no time to study. The ID cost me 150 Euro,” says Y.V.
There is a competition for the students to get accepted to dormitories and eat at the cafeteria,which is organized by the Students` Center (SC) of the UP. Enrollment is repeated every year and there always thousands of students who are interested. Finding a place to live during studies remains one of the main problems that students who come from other cities of Kosovo face.
SC has accepted around 4,000 students who are provided with space for living, eating, studying, and playing sports and other activities.
The candidates/students are selected based on the criteria set in the competition. The main criterion is that the student who gets accepted to stay in the dormitory should come from a municipality at least 25 km far from Prishtina.
Eldiana Azemi, a student at the Faculty of Mathematical and Nature Sciences (FMNS), who lives in the dormitory, says that she has heard about the phenomenon of selling/buying the dormitory`s ID.
“I think this is unfair, but I also understand those who want to enter the dormitory by any means since we are provided better conditions here,” she says.
Isak Beha, housing chief at SC, says that they have encountered such cases and SC has activated mechanisms to protect their regulations and criteria.
“As a consequence, those students who have published such announcements (to buy or sell their place in the dormitory) on the profile of SC or on their personal profile have been identified and we have sent the lists to all the dormitories and kept them on our official profile,” Beha says.
According to him, those students thrown out of the dormitory and will not be able to there.
This year alone, SC has encountered 16 cases of selling/buying the dormitory`s ID.
Liridona Berisha, another student who lives at the dormitory, thinks that those students who do not want to stay there should not apply and take someone else`s place.
“Since it is a very common phenomenon, I think there is something positive in it since many students cannot afford to pay for an apartment and eat at restaurants. Thus, they may pay a certain price at the beginning and then spend the year in the dormitory paying only 20 Euro for residency and eating in the cafeteria,” she says.
Njomza Berisha
