Although criteria and more clearly defined procedures for the selection of directors of educational institutions have been introduced to a certain extent, there is still a significant area where corruption risks have been detected that can negatively affect the integrity of the educational system in practice, and which need to be revised.
This is stated in the opinion of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption on the Law on Amendments to the General Law on Education.
The agency is of the opinion that the latest amendments to the General Law have regulated the procedure to a significant extent, but observes that the provision stipulating that "the minister can exceptionally choose the second-ranked or third-ranked candidate from the list with an explanation of the decision" creates unnecessary space for possible discretionary decision-making that reduces the effects of the developed selection criteria.
In this regard, the Agency encourages relevant ministries to provide criteria and scoring that will ensure that the final result of this process offers the most qualified candidate for the position of director.
"In this part, it is necessary to ensure a high level of transparency of the procedure itself so that it can be followed, especially in situations where the selection does not include the first-ranked candidate. In this way, the competent institutions, as well as the interested professional public, could contribute to the control of the procedure itself and timely identifying anomalies, which would contribute to increasing public confidence in the procedure," reads the opinion signed by the Acting Director of the Agency, Dušan Drakić.
The Agency assesses that it is necessary to establish clear criteria for the selection of members of the committee that checks the competences of candidates for director, in order to ensure that it is composed of qualified and professional persons, with relevant experience and knowledge, "whose work will offer a fair, high-quality and transparent ranking of candidates".
The initiative for the adoption of an opinion, with special reference to the solution according to which the minister re-elects and dismisses school principals, was submitted by the non-governmental organization Center for Civic Education (CGO).
When it comes to possible corruption risks, the Agency emphasizes in its opinion that it is a "lack of criteria for the selection of members of school or administrative boards, as well as for the selection of members of the committee for the selection of directors and for the employment of teaching staff".
"The stated criteria are one of the preconditions for a transparent and fair selection and employment process, because with the existence of a public list of ranked candidates, a known scoring system, attached documentation, and clearly defined methods of assessment, written testing and interviews, at least in a normative sense, it guarantees that the best candidate for the position, i.e. employment," the Agency's opinion states.
In that institution, they "recognize space" for the improvement of the existing normative framework, through the provision of criteria for the selection and dismissal of school and management boards in the law or relevant by-laws.
"Finally, it should be emphasized that, although the regulation has been improved in certain parts, there is room for further improvement in the area of appointment and employment. In connection with the above, it is necessary to monitor the application of these norms with due care, bearing in mind that education is important and a sensitive area, both from the aspect of building a strong society, and from the aspect of the special risk of corruption. In the end, in order for any anomalies during the application of regulations to be noticed and eliminated in a timely manner, any change to any norm must be carefully prepared, with the establishment of a strong system of supervision over the implementation of this law".
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