Thaci's illegal universities, towards closure by Haradinaj

Prizren, Gjilan, Gjakova, Peja, Mitrovica and Ferizaj, could very soon lose the university's <x0-57-citizen epitrine”.

Universities Hashim Thaci opened at the time of prime minister could be shut down for lack of quality, or converted into faculties.

The life span of these universities is expected to be cut, the Commission for Quality and Perseverance Rating, which has established the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, at the helm with Thanksgiving Bytyqi.

So has Minister Bytyqi himself warned.

“Under the assessment, if we note that quality is not at the right level, and sustainability is questioned, then these universities can be transformed into respective faculties, both universities in Kosovo. It is not about closing faculties, but only about becoming campuses of two universities in Kosovo”, Bytyqi has declared.

Education acquaintances appear to be welcoming such a step, since they estimate that the opening and accrediting of these universities has been made in redression with the law, opening them in time of elections to secure votes.

Pupovci: Universities are founded ignoring legal requirements

Dukagjin Pupovci, education connoisseur, has said that all six universities have been founded ignoring legal requirements, since the only institution of higher education that can retain the appointment “university” is the University of Pristina.

Under the Law of Higher Education for an institution to be called a university, it must have at least five doctrat programmes from five different academic fields, of which it has released graduates.

“Six other universities have been founded by ignoring this legal requirement at all and, as well, are accredited in conflict with the law. This has been done with full awareness by the Government, the Parliament and the Agency of Recognition, which has been repeatedly exerted political pressure to bypass the law to discredit these universities”, Pupovci said.

Minister Bytyqi's statements, he is seeing as a warning to rule of law be decided, but says the minister will find it very difficult to establish order in this area.

He says these universities have opened and accredited programmes from various areas that have nothing in common with each other. And their conversion to faculties can only be done if there are exits of programmes and concentrations in certain areas.

According to him, there is a lack of staff at these universities and that if there is no order in admission and advancing staff, there is little hope of improving quality.

The sufficient number of qualified academic staff is a prerequisite for quality, so when academic staff is lacking, there will be effects of quality”.

But whether professional vaults are being produced at these universities, Dukagjin Pupovci says that the job market is assessing it best. It claims much depends on how work is organised in higher education institutions, on the quality of teaching, but also on the evaluation criterion.

If employers repeatedly complain that graduates are not prepared to perform duties from their profession, then we cannot say that professional quartdro is produced”, Pupovci said.

Thaci: Election time opened for votes

Even the other education connoisseur, Yusuf Thaci, claims these institutions are in legal disarray, and are opened to artificially lower unemployment.

“Universities are in legal disarray and are opened under electoral euphoria, artificially lowering unemployment, as well as receiving” votes, he has said.

Thaci says that in many programmes of these universities there are not even minimal qualities and that quality is a problem as in the UP.

I believe that the Ministry has enough evidence that in many programs of these universities there is no minimum quality to function as research programs. In these university students receive diplomas, but no professional quartet are produced. Quality is a problem in all universities, including the UPI”, Thaci said.

Meanwhile, the initiative itself has not wanted to talk about the initiative to close universities. The Word newspaper is awaiting answers from the president's office, Hashim Thaci, to learn his position on the matter.

Lip: University Restructuring Needs Kosovo

The possibility of converting these Universities into campuses does not rule out even the Rector of the University of Gjakova “Fahmi Agani”, Shaban Buza.

“Whatever restructuring of the Higher Education Institutions in Kosovo, which contributes to raising their quality and profile, is what Kosovo needs right now, when there are many criticisms and frustrations of graduates”, Buza has said of the Word Journal.

The Word newspaper has also tried to contact other University Rectors in Kosovo's cities to take their stances, but not one of them has been accessible.

Meanwhile, the idea of the return of these universities as UP branches was given months earlier by the representative of the Organisation for Growth of Quality at Education (ORCA), Rron Djindovci.

Djindjic had told the media that it is obvious that Kosovo has no capacity for as many public universities as it has opened. According to him, it is quite evident that their electoral effect has ended.

Now is the time for real return. These universities must either return as UP branches or regroup according to regions and be granted college status as envisioned with the Law on Higher Education in Kosovo. It can't and cannot make the complexities of the inferiority of one person or of some people to become state-run agencies with financial consequences, while the expected result is close to zeros”, Djindovci had said.

He had stated that they need specialised colleges, for professional schools that replace the spaces that Pristina University leaves, and not as he said about the worst <x0-level universities in Pristina”.