Nis Faculty of Philosophy Staff Unpaid for 84 Days

Staff of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Nis gathered at noon on October 12 outside the Education Ministry on Nemanjina Street in Belgrade, where they symbolically handed over a copy of the Law on Higher Education, followed by a second copy to the Serbian Government. They are asking the Government to “hold the education minister accountable and order him to pay the wages of the staff of the Nis Faculty of Philosophy, which are being withheld illegally.” The minister in question is the caretaker Education Minister Dejan Vuk Stankovic.

How long have the employees gone without pay?

Associate Professor Ivana Pedovic said at the rally:

“Today is the 84th day since we last received our salaries. The salaries we earned. In that time we have kept coming to work, teaching students, holding exams and doing everything else we normally do.”

Katarina Jovanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Music in Belgrade, cited the same number of days. Media outlets count differently: N1 writes in its lead that staff have gone almost 80 days without pay, Insajder says “more than 80 days,” and research associate Milan Videnovic spoke of “over 80 days.” Staff earlier told the Beta news agency that they received the last partial payment on July 20, and exactly 84 days passed between that date and October 12.

According to Danas, about 200 employees are without pay, counting professors and teaching staff. Nemanja Radonjic of the Faculty of Philosophy gave a different breakdown: about 80 professors and 200 members of the teaching staff. The total, then, is not agreed.

What exactly was demanded at the protest, and who showed up?

Several hundred people, among them members of the academic community, students, citizens and candidates of the Student List, blocked one lane of Nemanjina Street in the direction of Slavija. A banner reading “We Won’t Give Up Philosophy” was unfurled. Those present included academician Radomir Saicic, Professor Oliver Toskovic, actor Bojan Dimitrijevic, former dean of the Nis faculty Natalija Jovanovic and Professor Biljana Stojkovic. Insajder reports that stands with badges and donation boxes were set up outside the ministry building.

Videnovic explained why the solidarity box was placed there:

“That is why we put the solidarity box right in front of the institution that is withholding our employees’ wages.”

Professor Dejan Milutinovic invoked Article 6 of the Law on Higher Education, which governs university autonomy, including study programs and financial independence. That very article was underlined and circled in the copies they handed over. Videnovic added that point 7 of the same article deals with independent funding, so in his assessment the ministry is “directly violating the Law on Higher Education.”

Where does the dispute over the Faculty of Serbian Studies come from?

In November 2025, the Serbian Government decided to establish a Faculty of Serbian Studies and to split off three departments of the Nis Faculty of Philosophy for it: Serbian language, Russian language and history. Milutinovic said that 17 or 18 colleagues opted to move to the new institution. He described the pressure like this: “Then other pressures start, through politics, through the media, all sorts of targeting, but we have stayed consistent.”

Faculty of Philosophy Dean Vladimir Jovanovic told Beta earlier that funds for salaries were approved for other faculties of the University of Nis at the end of June, but not for Philosophy. At the rally, Pedovic tied the unpaid wages to that dispute:

“We have learned what it looks like when the Government and the ministry use employees’ salaries as a means of pressure. We have also learned that such pressure can continue into a caretaker mandate.”

Videnovic says staff are missing more than their pay: “Now they are using financial pressure to force us to break the law.” According to him, neither health insurance contributions nor material costs are being paid. Katarina Jovanovic said their health insurance has been cancelled, so they cannot get treatment, cannot take their children to be treated and cannot claim sick leave. Her message from the rally:

“We are on the 84th day of this state silently watching as our colleagues are left without income.”

Did the ministry respond?

The sources from the rally do not report a response from the Education Ministry or from Minister Stankovic. Videnovic said staff were told in the morning, on arrival, that neither the minister nor anyone from the ministry would receive them:

“They told us in advance that they would not receive us at the ministry, so maybe we will invite them to come out front, to address us, to explain to us.”

Radonjic told the gathering that the university and the Student Movement are offering staff “moral, financial and, above all, human support.” Pedovic repeated that, despite everything, staff are still teaching and holding exams.