Tents are back at the University of Milan to protest against high rents

Protest tents have returned to the State University on Via Festa del Perdono in protest against the criteria for allocating places in halls of residence. The ‘Cambiare rotta’ collective explains that “the use of merit-based criteria is a violation of the right to education, which should enable students in need to be on an equal footing with others and not be subjected to blackmail”. This affects students “who are caught up in the brutal rental market in Milan, the most expensive city in Italia”.

According to the collective, “Minister Bernini boasts about the 63,000 beds created under the NRRP, but the truth is that those who do not meet the DSU criteria (right to university education) do not see the NRRP halls of residence as a viable solution: the costs are in line with, or often exceed, market prices, with rates reaching over 700 euros a month”. According to Cambiare Rotta, “the only solution is free, high-quality public halls of residence – a project that is clearly incompatible with the approach of a government that has continued the privatisation of welfare and aligns itself with the EU’s and NATO’s decisions on rearmament and military spending”. Tents and banners protesting against high rents and rearmament are therefore back at the University of Milan.