The Committee for Education today reviewed the annual work report of the State Quality Council of the Kosovo Agency for Accreditation for the year 2023. The recognition of diplomas or nostrification and the applicability of the administrative instruction were the two main topics that were discussed in this committee.

The Chairperson of the State Council of Quality (SCQ) of the Kosovo Accreditation Agency, Hasnije Ilazi, said that the main priority during the past year has been the creation of documentation deriving from the law and the organization of the international conference regarding quality in higher education in Kosovo and the region.

As an important matter, Ilazi mentioned that regardless of whether the conclusion will be positive or negative for the decision whether to return to ENQA, she showed that the latter have emphasized that extraordinary progress has been achieved since the exclusion.

The member of the Committee for Education from Vetëvendosje, Arijeta Rexhepi, asked some questions to the president of the SCQ, regarding the issue of recognition of diplomas and the lack of formal competence for the orientation of study programs.

In addition, Rexhepi asked about the drafting of the regulation for validation.

Regarding these questions, Ilazi said that it is always challenging to detect to which field one of the potential carriers of the programs belongs.

She said that regarding the programs that should reflect the needs of society and the market, there is no possibility of interfering with the academic freedom that higher education institutions have.

Meanwhile, regarding the validation, Ilazi emphasized that it is one of the most important points for them, for which she said that they have compiled the first draft of the regulation, which they will deal with in September of this year.

Meanwhile, the member of the Committee for Education, from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Eliza Hoxha, in addition to the issue of recognition of diplomas, raised as an issue complaints about the applicability of the administrative instruction, which is about the accreditation of professional bachelor programs.

Regarding this, the president of the SCQ, Hasnije Ilazi, said that with the completion of the preliminary administrative instruction, they are still in a "legal vacuum", since according to her, the other guide that can regulate this issue is not yet in force.

In addition, she said that they are working on the administrative instruction and that on Wednesday they will send a draft to the Ministry of Education for signature. /Z. Zeneli/