The Student Council of the University of Zagreb, together with the student councils of the universities in Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar and Pula, has submitted a joint appeal to the Minister of Science, Education and Youth, Radovan Fuchs. The appeal calls for a systematic modernisation of student catering in Croatia.
The appeal is based on the results of a survey conducted among 7,310 students across five Croatian university centres. The research shows strong support for the introduction of more varied and modern menus. In Zagreb, 90.6 per cent of students surveyed support such changes, as do 93 per cent in Rijeka and 93.9 per cent in Zadar, while in Osijek 94.4 per cent of those surveyed support it. In Pula, nearly seven in ten students surveyed are dissatisfied with the variety of meals available.
Student representatives stress that students appreciate the value of the existing subsidised catering system. The system provides students with daily meals at affordable prices and represents one of the key pillars of the student standard of living. The initiative is therefore not a critique of the subsidisation model itself, but a call for its constructive improvement. Students wish to preserve what works well in the current system, but believe that the time has come to adapt the system to contemporary dietary needs and habits.
The presidents of the student councils of the five universities have asked the Ministry to amend the Regulations on the conditions and manner of exercising the right to coverage of students' food costs, and to update the existing standards. Among the key demands are more diverse and nutritionally balanced meals, higher quality and fresher ingredients, greater availability of vegetarian and other adapted meals, and more transparent information on food composition and allergens. Gordan Kragić is the acting president of the Student Council at the University of Zagreb.
The presidents of the student councils of the five universities propose that the Ministry convene representatives of students, student centres, the National Council for the Control of Student Nutrition, and relevant experts. The aim is to draw up new standards and concrete regulatory changes. The initiative does not seek to change what makes the current system valuable, but rather to ensure that the available student catering is of high quality, diverse, and tailored to the needs of new generations of students.
