The Committee on Education, Science, Culture and Sports gave the green light yesterday for the Bill on Higher Education.
State Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation (MESI) Tatjana Ćalasan She said that the Draft Law was one of the "priority activities" of that department, adding that its development began in 2020.
"There were two or three failed attempts to form a commission to monitor the work on the Proposal itself. Last April, we managed to form a group of 18 members, various representatives of all the relevant institutions that we wanted to include. The call for a public debate lasted 20 days, and a round table was held within it. A large number of affirmative suggestions were adopted and incorporated into the Draft Law. The Ministry of Justice and the Interior requested the opinion of seven institutions - the Secretariat for Legislation, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of European Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, the General Secretariat of the Government and the Ministry of Public Administration. We received a positive opinion on the text of the law from all institutions," said Ćalasan.
Member of the Europe Now Movement (PES) Vladimir Bakrač He said that "this bill is more sophisticated", and characterized the current regulation as "neoliberal".
One of his amendments related to the possibility that one person could be elected to the position of vice-chancellor twice in a row.
"This ensures consistency and systematic harmonization of legal solutions, and introduces the principle of time limitation for the performance of the highest functions at a state university. This affects staff rotation, encourages academic dynamics, and at the same time gives the rector the opportunity to choose his closest associates...", said Bakrač.
Member of Parliament of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) Aleksandra Despotović She referred to the provision of the draft regulation according to which "an institution cannot organize regional departments." She specified that it was also emphasized that regional departments of private institutions that were established before the new regulation came into force will continue to operate, but no longer than until the end of the 2029/2030 academic year.
Among other things, she was also interested in why a state higher education institution cannot form regional departments.
"Article 153 of the Proposal for the Law on Higher Education specifies that they will operate until the end of the 2029/30 academic year at the latest. It is specified for private institutions, but not for state institutions. Our proposal is to specify it for them as well," Despotović stated.
MP of DPS Zoja Bojanić-Lalović She said that "the old law had its advantages, because it was adapted to the European space."
"Some other laws were not made in order to ensure compliance with market demands. With all the shortcomings, it had some of its advantages. The shortcomings stemmed from the irresponsibility of all other actors in society, who should have recognized them and overcome them in the meantime."
Director of the Agency for Control and Quality Assurance of Higher Education Goran Danilović He expressed his displeasure regarding the provisions related to the new regulation - the Accreditation Board. Danilović said that it was "not a body of the Agency".
"This is a state university body, because a state institution has seven representatives. That these people from the private sector are not worthy of attention and that it is so stripped down, that the majority of a higher education institution is established... For me, this is unacceptable. I want our private universities to reach the level of our state universities," he said.
Ćalasan reminded that the Accreditation Body at the Agency has 13 members, and that this figure is defined "directly proportional to the number of students in public and private institutions."
"We cannot say that we have neglected the number of representatives from private institutions when there are three of them," she said.
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