Low Marks: Kosovo to Restructure ‘Universities’ That Don’t Meet Criteria

In response to a sharp decline in student enrolment across Kosovo’s public higher educational system, the government has announced plans to reorganise the public universities. The reform is expected to have greatest impact on five regional institutions established more than a decade ago, none of which meets the legal criteria to qualify as a proper university. “Our new mandate will also be a mandate to restructure higher education,” caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti said last week. “Universities must have a clear academic profile, budgeting must be based on performance, and study programmes must be aligned with the priorities of the state and industry,” he added. Under the Law on Higher Education, the designation “university” may only be granted to a higher educational institution that offers study programmes in at least five fields and demonstrates sufficient academic capacity, offering at least five PhD programmes. Subscribe to Balkan Insight Premium to read the full article. Please login to your account below if you are already a Premium Subscriber. Buy Premium Subscription Our Premium Service gives you full access to all content published on BalkanInsight.com, including analyses, investigations, comments, interviews and more. Choose your subscription today and get unparalleled in-depth coverage of the Southern and Eastern Europe. Buy Premium Subscription If you have trouble logging in or any other questions regarding you account, please contact us