Lecturers protest underfunding, hand out fake diplomas

Academic workers staged a protest outside the government building in Vilnius, distributing free diplomas in protest against underfunding for higher education and science in Lithuania, reports LRT.

The action was titled Diplomas uz aciu, or ‘Diploma for free’, with a misspelling that referred to an error made by the former minister of education. Several hundred passers-by joined the protest by workers and were given fake diplomas. The action was led by Vilnius University Rector Arturas Zukauskas and professors wearing academic robes who awarded a ‘degree in demagogy’ to the minister of education.

The rally demanded adequate funding for higher education and for the government to live up to its commitments to raise academic salaries which, according to Zukauskas, have been stagnant for the last decade.
Full report on the LRT site