Prime Minister Edi Rama received in a special meeting the new leaders of universities, the rectors and deans appointed after the voting process for these positions was concluded with success. The meeting was attended also by the Minister of Education, Lindita Nikolla.
The Prime Minister discussed with the guests the common challenges for the implementation of the reform for higher education, and the enforcement of the new legal base for higher education. The meeting marked the beginning of the cooperation between each of the elected and the government who has extended them the hand of partnership.
The Prime Minister congratulated the newly-elected rectors and encouraged them in leading a process that will meet the expectations of those who invested their trust with their vote. “First of all, I would like to congratulate everybody on being elected, and also encourage each and every one of you that in this difficult but beautiful and motivating process in leading the rectors’ and deans’ offices and the university departments, you will meet the expectations of those who entrusted their vote to you.”
In addition, the Prime Minister defined the entire election process a positive campaign that was not affected by parties’ influences and where a very important role was played by the candidates themselves and the atmosphere they created. “I want to congratulate you also on the fact that you gave a positive tone to a campaign which this time, I believe, also because we were determined to not be involved in the process and did our best to keep it away from any partisan or political influence, was basically a positive campaign. Moreover, a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education and Sports with students, shows that the atmosphere that you created, not only you who are here but everybody who attended the competition, allowed communication and the messages, goals, objectives and ideas of all competitors were perceived without external pressures.”
In particular, the Prime Minister congratulated on their dignified attitude two members of this governing body who did not succumb to criminal pressures. “I am also very glad that complaints of candidates for illegal activities of other candidates, except the infamous incident, have been basically zero. Allow me to mention the infamous incident and show my respect both to the newly elected rector and to the dean. None of them backed off in front of a totally unacceptable criminal pressure, not only for the academia, but for the social life in general, and they gave a very meaningful message with their determination to continue the competition calmly. And all of you gave this competition dignity and made it a foundation stone to keep going on a path that does not begin with the term of each of you, but on which throughout this term very important steps will be taken in terms of, I reiterate, laying the groundwork for the functioning of education based on a law which is already the base for the entire reform of higher education.”
A very important role in the process was played by the Ministry of Education and Sport, about which the Prime Minister said that it fulfilled at best its commitment as an institution in every stage of the process. “I believe that the Ministry of Education has done at best its job in engaging its representatives at all levels of the electoral process, and for the sake of truth, cooperation with the electoral bodies of higher education institutions has been very positive and has guaranteed a fair election process from the legal standpoint. And in fact, claims about the violation of the will of the voters or interference of any kind in the process have been minimal, and none of them has been official for the sake of truth.
I believe that on our part, we have fulfilled our responsibilities but we are also aware that our work does not end here, and as I said at the beginning, consider the government, the Ministry of Education, the Prime Minister’s Office, a close and strategic partner on a path where the decision is yours in the whole range of university autonomy but where, I believe, the level and quality on which you will base your department, faculty or rectory you are going to lead depends on the fruitful cooperation between us.”
The Prime Minister assured the leaders that the quality of cooperation between them and the government does not depend on the political preferences of those elected, but is entirely based on common interests in education. “There are rectors, deans and chairmen here who have never voted for me, and never will. I don’t know all of them, but some of them I do. Just as there are others who have always voted for me and will do vote for me again. But be assured that this is not the criterion on which we base the quality of our collaboration. Absolutely not! Everybody can say whatever they want, but none of you can say that you felt that the prime minister, the minister of the government was your opponent in this competition. I don’t think that any of you here can say “I wasn’t competing against someone who could be my colleague, but I was competing against the state, against the government, against the prime minister, against the Socialist Party”. It did not happen! And this is a first sign that you must consider the message that we wanted to convey to all those who were going to come out of this competition as winners.”
In addition to highlighting the outcome of this competition as a real outcome where 98% of university professors cast their vote, the prime minister reiterated that the government will always provide its support. “Precisely because you won based on your merit, and the outcome of this competition is a real outcome, the expression of the vote of 98% of the university professors, you deserve all due respect and our unlimited support for everything you deem that the government must hear from and discuss with you. You must be assured that we know very well our duties towards university, as we demonstrated when elections took place. But beyond duties, cooperation is open and each of you is welcomed to seek support, to be heard and to talk.”
In conclusion, the prime minister said that the reform of higher education has been historic, and noted that its implementation remains a common challenge. “Actually, I believe that we have done something that is historic for higher education. Our challenge now is to implement it. The challenge is to not allow that public universities are easily competitive, and moreover to not allow that they remain behind non-public universities. It cannot happen, although it has happened for many faculties, departments, not to mention universities. This is a common challenge. We have embarked on this path, and remain faithful to the principle that there is no distinction between universities of the mother and universities of the stepmother. Both in public and non-public universities there are Albanian young people who want to be educated, and their parents invest both their hopes and their savings. However, we believe that the potential of public universities is far greater, and I urge you to work together to turn this potential in a tangible reality of change for the students, but also for professors who need to work in better conditions.”
In her address, the Minister of Education and Sport Lindita Nikolla said that the government fulfilled its commitment for a fair and democratic competition. “Each of you who are here today, but also those who applied, are proof that we succeeded in fulfilling the commitment we made since the beginning of your competition. We committed to do our best to organize a fair and democratic competition, and to leave everything else to the decision of professors and students who made their choice. Of course, we succeeded all together to have such a competition.”
The meeting continued with the exchange of ideas and suggestions regarding the implementation of the reform for higher education and university autonomy.
