Addressing a news conference in Zagreb the minister said that he did not want to interfere into the autonomy of the university as this would be contrary to the Constitution, and added that he was the wrong target of criticism over faculty tuition as it was not his ministry which defines and levies tuition fees from students but that this was the job within the remit of the each faculty leadership.
On Monday, students of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences started a protest including sit-ins in the faculty building, and the protests spread to other universities in Croatia over the last days.
Protestors insist on free-of-charge education at all levels at universities, and call on the Education Ministry to take a stand on their demands for redefining the entire system of financing the tertiary education.
The minister today told that news conference that those professors who expressed support to the protests should give back money collected from fees to students.
He accused the leadership of the Zagreb-based Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences of failing to apply the rule the the amount of tuition fees should depend on the success of students so that the best students could be exempted from payment or pay the lowest amounts.
In this context he said that out of 33 faculties and colleges within Zagreb University, 27 members exempted the best students from tuition fees, while the above-mentioned faculty did not want to introduce this model of payment of fees.
Primorac said that he would also check media reports that some political options were behind the protests, alluding to a possibility that a PR experts from Social Democratic Party might have been engaged in the organisation of the protest at the Zagreb-based the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Students of the Zadar-based Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences joined in the protest on Tuesday, and in the meantime their colleagues from Split, Osijek and Rijeka did the same.
During the protest actions they are blocking their faculties' buildings and organising alternative lectures.
Later on Thursday, representatives of protesters said that the minister was trying to shift responsibility to professors.