Press Statement of Minister of Education and Sports Lindita Nikolla, following the meeting of the Council of Ministers:
The Draft Law on Higher Education and Scientific Research in Higher Education Institutions comes as a unique process after two strategic documents and a long process of public debate of all stakeholders.
Due thanks go to the tireless and professional work of the commission “Gjonça”, that found the strength to stand on personal options and approve an essential document that was presented to us.
I thank also all rectors, deans, professors and students, who were engaged in an ongoing improvement of this law.
The new Law on Higher Education and Scientific Research in Institutions of Higher Education is a bill that brings a number of changes within the measures undertaken so far. We cannot do compromise with quality. The time of universities that pretend teaching is over.
This is a law for Albanian students, a law that aims at giving an opportunity to the youth of this country to acquire knowledge from qualitative universities, benefit the missing value of their labor, give parents confidence that the money and time invested are worth it. This is and has been the only compass that has oriented us. Everything else, the Ministry, universities, professors, autonomy, governance and agencies are tools to serve this purpose.
The new law changes the funding scheme, introducing the modern concept of performance-based funding. The state will increasingly fund higher education, but these finances, taxes of Albanian citizens should produce the maximum possible value. A modern financing scheme that is oriented by performance indicators of our universities will drive them to innovate, improve service provided to young people, to generate more and more research, expand international cooperation, etc. Basically, it will produce a more qualitative higher education.
The law that was passed today at the Council of Ministers provides a fairer public funding for students, helps students in need, creates a special fund of scholarships for all categories in financial difficulties so that students can attend their studies. In addition, it creates a special fund of scholarships for students attending programs of national priority, and specifically it supports students who have excellent results.
In doing so, we will optimize support with public funds, focusing on those in need and where excellence is generated.
The draft increases significantly the university autonomy by giving public universities a number of significant decisions on the number of students admitted, selection criteria, selection of students, study fees, the number of academic staff. We give universities the right to self promote academic staff.
This is the first genuine site of university autonomy, as part of the belief that universities, in the proper balance between freedom and accountability to the public, can provide the best quality.
The new Law on Higher Education streamlines the internal governance of the university, by giving clear authority to the academic senate on the academic approach of HEIs governance and supports the work of the Senate with an administrative structure at the service of HEI’s mission. In a more modern concept of university governance, we enhance academic quality, making scholars focus on academic tasks, and increase the quality of management supporting it with professional administrators.
The new Law on Higher Education brings standards across the space and actors, according to the principle “a single yardstick, a single measure”, a government system, a set of standards embodied in the Quality Code, a system of quality assurance, a unified system of legality control, a modern, fair competition which offers high-quality education.
Put clear and firm: This law does not bring public money to private institutions. It rather promotes the increase of public and private funding in public education, as well as it promotes additional providers of public service for higher education.
The new law streamlines scientific research in universities, making the quality of universities a measurable and comparable indicator; it redefines existing agencies, bringing them closer to best European models and modernizing the services provided by them.
Today conclude an important stage of the reform, but certainly we are very aware that the next phase of implementation will be a major challenge for all of us, universities and obviously faculty and students. But we are convinced that, when we look back after a few years, everyone, even those who today are skeptics, will be convinced that we walked on the right path.
Thank you!
