The public hearing was attended by MPs, representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, National Council for Higher Education, National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission, Student Conference, Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU), national minority councils’ education committees, Engineering Academy and rectors of state and private universities.
The Chairperson of the Committee on Education, Science, Technological Development and the Information Society, MA Aleksandra Jerkov said that the point of the public hearing is to include all the stakeholders into the law creating process while it is still in the drafting stage. This also strengthens the National Assembly’s control role, stressed Jerkov.
In his introductory address, Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Dr Srdjan Verbic stated that the most important amendments contained in the Draft Law amending and modifying the Law on Higher Education concern improving the universities’ transparency and eliminating the problems plaguing the process of recognising foreign higher education diplomas.
In the course of the public hearing, the participants discussed many a current issue regulated by the Draft Law amending and modifying the Law on Higher Education, in great detail, such as: accreditation of higher education institutions, recognition of foreign higher education diplomas and evaluation of foreign study programmes, requisites - criteria for the election of higher education lecturers and election for scientific and research titles in the field of scientific research, public registry of doctoral dissertations and central registry of teachers, levels of higher education and gaining the title of professor emeritus.
Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development Dr Srdjan Verbic and State Secretaries at the Ministry Prof. Dr Zoran Masic and Dr Aleksandar Belic, as well as the President of the National Council for Higher Education Prof. Dr Srdjan Stankovic and Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission member Prof. Dr Sofija Pekic Quarrie spoke on these issues.