The Network of Academic Solidarity and Engagement (MASA) held a press conference on Thursday, June 10, regarding the current amendments to the Law on Higher Education, which the Government of Serbia submitted as a proposal to the National Assembly. At the conference, a critical review was given, both of the content of the changes themselves, and of the way in which they are adopted - real participation and respect for the views of the academic community and the wider public.
Namely, MASA got involved in this process by participating in the public debate on the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Higher Education, and after that sent a written objection to many of the proposed changes. A large part of the objections, not only by MAS, but also by other applicants, including the University of Belgrade as well as several faculties and institutes, was not accepted. Since the parliamentary procedure included an even worse text than the one presented in the Draft, we thought it necessary to inform the public about the process itself, but also about the possible consequences of adopting such a proposal for the academic community and society as a whole.
Professor of the Faculty of Transportation and member of the Coordination Committee (CO) of Masa, Dalibor Petrović, stated that the amendments to the Law did not respond to the basic problem for which they were initiated, which is the excessive influence of the executive power on the National Accreditation Body (NAT), which is why this body 2020 and suspended by the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). According to the new solution, the state not only did not reduce its influence on this body, but it also increased it (which is best seen through the proposed structure of the NAT Board of Directors), so the question arises as to how sincere the state's intention was to do something in this regard. essential changes, pointed out Petrović.
These changes also represent an attempt to de facto legalize the situation at the Orthodox Faculty of Theology, whose statute is in direct conflict with the principle of university autonomy. This was discussed by Professor Miodrag Jovanović from the Faculty of Law, who stated that, regarding the proposed provisions allowing that, at the theological faculty, one of the mandatory conditions for selection as a teacher and associate can be the consent of the church or religious community ( the so-called blessing), there is room for the evaluation of constitutionality, and that he will personally engage in such an initiative.
Vladan Čokić from the Institute for Medical Research of the University of Belgrade, a member of the MASE Coordination Board, followed up on the same topic. He said that the Serbian Orthodox Church has absolute control over the Orthodox Faculty of Theology, which is contrary to the Statute of the University of Belgrade, the Law on Higher Education and the Constitution of Serbia. Also, due to the very fact that the church's blessing is required for the selection, application and employment of teachers at this faculty, and even for enrollment in studies, freedom of thought and expression, the right to work and the autonomy of the university are threatened.
Jelena Jerinić, a professor at the Faculty of Law at Union University and a member of the MASA Coordination Board, referred to the very procedure of drafting the proposal that the Government sent to the parliament: "MASA participated in both online sessions organized by the Ministry regarding the Draft. After that, we sent a large number of comments and detailed proposals. However, all proposals regarding the deletion of provisions related to theological faculties were rejected, not only by MASE, but also by the largest number of other actors from the academic community. The answers were very curt, without any reasoning or arguments. In practice, we received several lines of responses to remarks that had several sides. Even the report on the held public hearing was difficult to find on the Ministry's website. This shows that the Ministry only fulfilled the formal requirements regarding holding a public hearing, but did not ensure an open and transparent process."
Vladica Cvetković, professor of the Faculty of Mining and Geology and president of the Academic Committee for Higher Education at SANU and member of the Advisory Board of MASA, points out that the changes will not solve any of the essential problems of our university education: "We will not be able to carry out an enrollment policy without it jeopardizing survival faculty, staff will continue to leave us, half of the diplomas will not be worth as much as they should be in the formal sense, and we will be chosen according to the criteria of obedience instead of merit."
Dalibor Petrović added that the idea of MASA as a young organization that connects members of the academic community aware of the state in which higher education and the whole society find themselves, is not only to advertise with announcements and react when the community is threatened, but also to propose solutions and act proactively. He stated that the goal of MASA is to unite, and he invited all members of the academic community to become part of the Network, which would be built in the coming period through working groups. In the end, Petrović added that by the end of June, we expect the presentation of four scientific studies related to the improvement of the quality of higher education in Serbia, which were worked on in the previous months.
