UNESCO: Proposed Higher Education Law Opposed to Bologna Declaration

B&H Commission for Cooperation with UNESCO reported on June 1 that the latest Draft-Law on Higher Education is significantly removed from the spirit and the principles of the Bologna Declaration and is not a good ally for Bosnia and Herzegovina and its EU integration ambitions. Its public statement emphasizes the concerns caused by the proposed system of financing that keeps the existing differences on entity and cantonal levels, which provides the political elites with dominant influence on development of universities, enrolment policies and election of management. The solutions, in the view of the Commission, directed against national level financing can be interpreted through political reasons that aim to maintain political influence over the higher education and further block the mobility of students and teachers inside B&H. \\\"The cantons, i.e. the Republic of Srpska will issue credentials, although the National Accreditation Agency will keep the right to supervision and control”, states the Commission and wonders to what extent will a degree received in B&H be valid and relevant for the European higher education space, having in mind that hundreds of diplomas issued by certain private universities have been annulled. \\\"This virus of ‘fabrication of experts’ is moving towards a number of schools in the public system, which is a warning sign that we need unified credentials system on national level”, states the public statement issued y the Commission. B&H submitted the necessary documents and joined the Bologna Process at the Berlin Meeting of September 18, 2003, thus accepting the obligation to work on the creation of European Higher Education Space by 2010, together with other member states. B&H is obligated to reform its system of education in accordance with European higher education systems. The Magna Carta Universitatum (Great University Charger), signed in Bologna in 1988, emphasizes the principles of independence for universities from political and economic power, and inexistence of geographic and political boundaries to education.