The Ombudsman Institution appealed to the Minister of Education, Krasimir Valchev, urging him to change the methodology for determining student tuition fees to ensure that they are socially acceptable and predictable throughout the years of study.

7 July 2025 

The Ombudsman Institution appealed to the Minister of Education, Krasimir Valchev, urging him to change the methodology for determining student tuition fees to ensure that they are socially acceptable and predictable throughout the years of study.

The letter to the minister was prompted by dozens of complaints from students expressing their outrage at yet another drastic increase in student tution fees. They point to extremely high tuition fees for a number of majors, both for fee-paying and state-funded students.

“We understand that in connection with the increase in subsidies for students, there is also an element of administrative pressure to raise fees, but in reality they are too high and, according to citizens, even unaffordable for many families,” writes Dr. Aysun Avdjiev, Secretary General of the Ombudsman Institution.

 He warns that it is unacceptable for young people to tolerate such practices on the part of higher education institutions. Students say that this increase puts them in an impossible situation – “to discontinue their studies, despite the time and effort they have invested, or to be forced to pay an exorbitant fee that does not meet the standards for affordable education.” They note that “the fact that the changes are taking place in the middle of the academic year, without sufficient prior notice or opportunity to prepare, is particularly disturbing.”

“I would like to point out that the national Ombudsman Institution finds the increase unacceptable, as it has a deterrent effect on access to higher education for a significant group of young people. This drastic increase also carries the risk of a mass outflow of students from majors that are said to have insufficient candidates, such as physics, chemistry, philosophy, medicine, etc.,” emphasizes Dr. Aysun Avdjev.

He adds that, according to university rectors, the tuition fees currently in place should be reduced by at least half so that young people's access to higher education is not restricted.

“Regarding the measures taken so far to reduce tuition fees by 25%, it is considered that this reduction is not sufficient,” Avdjiev emphasises.

The Secretary General also draws attention to another worrying fact, namely that the increase in tution fees in recent years has outpaced the incomes of a large proportion of citizens and reduced students' chances of completing their education.

La aplicación del gravámen de uso doméstico actual puede derivar en un abandono de los campos

El Síndic de Greuges de Cataluña ha recibido varias quejas porque a los campos sin actividad económica se les aplica el tipo de gravamen doméstico del canon del agua, aunque utilicen agua de fuentes propias

Por un lado, la normativa vigente regula los usos del agua y especifica que, para aplicar el gravamen de uso agrícola, es necesario que existan actividades económicas concretas asociadas. Si no se tienen estas actividades declaradas, se considera que el agua que se utiliza para regar es de uso doméstico.

Por otro lado, las personas con estos campos no comerciales expresan su malestar con este tratamiento, y denuncian que es muy difícil mantener pequeños cultivos familiares con estas condiciones y que esto puede acabar derivando en un abandono de las tierras.

Tras estudiar el caso, la síndica ha pedido a las autoridades competentes que valoren una posible revisión del actual régimen del canon del agua para determinar si es necesario establecer una tributación específica para el riego de tierras agrícolas sin actividad económica asociada. Esta medida permitiría dar respuesta a una realidad social existente y evitar efectos no deseados sobre el territorio y el paisaje rural.

La Red Europea contra la Pobreza es una organización no lucrativa y de acción social que reúne a las organizaciones autonómicas del tercer sector implicadas en la lucha contra la pobreza y la exclusión a través de la defensa de los derechos de los colectivos en riesgo y de su participación comunitaria plena.

El pasado martes Dolores Fernández Galiño, Valedora do Pobo, acompañada por el secretario Xeral de la institución, Fernando de Andrés, visitó las nuevas instalaciones que EAPN Galicia tiene en Santiago de Compostela. Fueron recibidos por Xosé Cuns, director en Galicia de EAPN,  por Javier Hermida, vicepresidente, y además director de la Federación Alzheimer Galicia, y por la responsable de programas y comunicación Clara de Vega.  Todos ellos mantuvieron una reunión dentro del contexto de colaboración que existe entre la institución de la Valedora do Pobo y EAPN Galicia.

Se trataron temas como la inmigración, vivienda, dependencia y discapacidad, el papel de las entidades del tercer sector en la inclusión laboral de las personas vulnerables, los riesgos de la utilización de la inteligencia artificial en estos ámbitos y la lucha contra el discurso del odio y la aporofobia.

Concepción Gimeno ha expresado su admiración por la labor que realiza la entidad y la disposición de la institución a colaborar en el marco de las competencias propias

La justicia de Aragón, Concepción Gimeno, ha visitado este viernes las instalaciones que el Banco de Alimentos de Zaragoza tiene en Mercazaragoza, donde ha sido recibido por su presidente, José Ignacio Alfaro; la secretaria del Patronato, Mayte Herrero, y miembros del Patronato como María Teresa Fernández y Clara Arpa.

Con sus treinta años recién cumplidos, el Banco de Alimentos es una fundación sin ánimo de lucro cuya labor es obtener alimentos por distintas vías y hacerlos llegar a las entidades, quienes las reparten a las familias necesitadas o los utilizan en sus comedores sociales.

La fundación atendió el año pasado a 138 entidades, lo que les permitió alcanzar las 21.369 personas atendidas y superar los tres millones de kilos de comida repartidos. Todo esto gracias a la labor desinteresada y constante de más de 140 voluntarios que permiten que el Banco de Alimentos consiga sus objetivos.

Concepción Gimeno ha escuchado las inquietudes de la fundación, entre otras, lo valioso que sería para todas las entidades sociales y también para la administración contar con un registro de las personas que son atendidas y de las ayudas que reciben para evitar las duplicidades y poder personalizar la atención.

Councils’ housing allocations schemes is the subject of the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman’s third practical guide for housing officers to help improve services for Disabled people.

The latest guide highlights issues Disabled people face when applying to councils’ housing schemes, and the changes local councils can make to improve those services.

Issues covered in the Guide include councils’ delays when processing, assessing and reviewing medical assessments and housing applications by Disabled people.

The Guide also reminds councils not to rely solely on advice from external medical advisors, many of whom never see the Disabled person or their living arrangements.

The Ombudsman also recommends councils have sufficient discretion within the allocations scheme to be able to take into account people’s individual circumstances.

It also urges councils to think holistically about the service they offer and to include other departments – such as adults and children’s services – to work together to ensure the best possible outcomes.

Ms Amerdeep Somal, Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, said:

“All too often we see councils not treating people – including Disabled people – as individuals with their own set of personal circumstances when processing applications to housing allocations schemes.

“We have seen cases where local authorities have relied too heavily on independent medical reports to make a decision about a person’s priority, without taking a broader look at that person’s circumstances.

“And we have also seen officers stick too rigidly to flawed beliefs about their councils’ schemes, and assessing people’s applications against the wrong criteria.

“Our new Guide contains a number of useful recommendations that councils can use to take stock of the services they offer. It distils the key learning points into just a few pages and I would urge officers and decision makers who have responsibility for housing applications to have a read and see if their services could be improved.”

The guide, and other resources in the Ombudsman’s campaign to improve housing support for Disabled people, can be downloaded from the Ombudsman’s website.

Article date: 10 July 2025