Those foreign universities would come to us and just rent space - no one wants to build a campus for a branch of a university. The only thing that would be gained in this way is that the students who enroll in it have a degree from a foreign university. The conditions, the environment, and the atmosphere that that university provides, and even the knowledge, would not be the same and all this would be because of the diploma.
A proposal to amend the Law on Higher Education, which opens the door for the arrival of foreign universities to Serbia, is coming to the Serbian Parliament. The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is particularly optimistic about this proposal because, as he claims, it will reduce the number of students who go abroad in search of a diploma from a prestigious faculty. Now, allegedly, they will be able to have all that in Belgrade. However, the proposal of the Law provides the possibility for foreign universities to obtain work permits without domestic accreditation and thus bypass the National Accreditation Body of Serbia. The members of the domestic academic community are even more worried about the announcement that the state will co-finance the tuition fees for students who would be educated at branches of foreign universities in Serbia.
The proposal for radical changes to the law slipped under the radar, without prior notification of the academic community, and all this at a time when the eyes of the Serbian public were focused on some other pressing problems.
Former Minister of Education Srđan Verbić tells "Vreme" why the adoption of such a law would be disastrous for our higher education, but also for other deficiencies, omissions and dysfunctions of our educational system.
WEATHER: How would the implementation of this Bill affect higher education in Serbia?
SRĐAN VERBIĆ: I am sure that this amendment does not achieve what is written in the Bill itself. Because if someone really sincerely wanted to improve the quality of domestic higher education by providing the opportunity for foreign universities to be accredited with us and for our students to enroll in foreign universities, they would have done it in a much more transparent way. I can't shake the impression that this is a prank attempt to, at a time when no one is paying attention, along with the Budget Law and without public discussion, introduce such a major change as opening the possibility for foreign universities to appear.
What is the biggest problem here??
The bad thing is that foreign universities would obtain a work permit by making an agreement with the Ministry of Education, as this Law provides. The universities would meet with people from the ministry, agree on when they would start working, promise that everything would be fine and proper, and thus start working.
The Draft Law states that no one is asking those universities to be accredited with us. It is important that they are accredited in the country they come from. We recognize foreign degrees, but only if they were obtained in countries where the programs are accredited. For example, if someone got an Italian degree in Italy, that's fine. If he received an Italian degree from an Italian university in Switzerland, if he is also accredited there, it will be recognized. But it must also be recognized in the country where the teaching takes place.
Could branches of foreign faculties in Serbia replace the authentic experience of studying at those faculties abroad??
It wouldn't. Probably, these faculties would be taught by people from abroad who do not teach at the home faculty. Those at the home faculties already have enough work and do not have time to teach the course for the whole semester in Belgrade. People in higher education are aware of this, and that is why these separate departments - that is, branches - are not a good idea, nor are they welcomed with open arms. Those foreign universities would come to us and just rent space - no one wants to build a campus for a branch of a university. The only thing that would be gained in this way is that the students who enroll in it have a degree from a foreign university. The conditions, the environment, the atmosphere that university provides, and the knowledge, would not be the same and all this would be because of the diploma. In this way, we open the possibility to buy a diploma from a foreign university more cheaply, and we don't need that.
What effect would bringing in foreign faculties have on the number of students leaving the country?
If someone has decided to study at Harvard or Cambridge - that is, at a really prestigious university, they will also want to move to the home country of that university. No substitute here will satisfy that student, because studying also means experiencing life on campus, meeting new people and much more. Here they would have the experience of meeting a few more people from Belgrade. Studying is not just what takes place in the amphitheater. You cannot copy Harvard's library and move it to Belgrade. That won't happen. In the top of the head here we can get several rooms in which classes would take place.
Were the members of the academic community informed that the amendments to the Law on Higher Education will enter the parliamentary procedure?
I am convinced that the vast majority of employees in higher education have not even heard that this is happening. If it was not in the public debate and if it was not discussed in the forums, but only appeared in the Parliament - what kind of Bill is it? The next Monday is the session of the Assembly. That means there is no time to discuss. Belgrade University discussed this on Friday. They scheduled an emergency session of the expanded Rector's College for Wednesday next week. However, the Bill will already be in the Assembly and it will be too late to react. No one could organize a rector's collegium over the weekend to discuss it.
Under what conditions should foreign faculties come to Serbia, while maintaining the necessary quality of education?
I don't think foreign universities are a bad idea - on the contrary. It would be great if we had some quality foreign universities here and they would offer what they have at their price. Whoever can, would pay for it. The introduction of dual programs with foreign universities is also a possibility. It exists as a model in other countries. If a joint program of domestic and foreign faculties were to be created, common courses would have to be included in the schedule, which would be accredited in both countries. Students would then take a little of one subject here, and a little abroad. They would rotate and travel every semester. This increases the mobility of students, and they can experience what studying "through" looks like.
Private faculties in Serbia are considered by many to be the easiest places to get a diploma. Is there any truth in that??
It is quite a misperception that private colleges are degree shops. There are many successful students who could enroll in any state college, but choose a private one because of the program, the professors, or they realize that it doesn't even matter much from which college they got their degree. This was more important when people were mainly employed in the civil service, so someone measured their university degrees. A private employer first looks at what someone has learned, not what diploma and average someone has.
To what extent do our faculties provide students with opportunities to acquire practical knowledge?
There is certainly a lack of practical work at the faculties. It's not only the faculty's fault, it's also a problem in that many people don't have anywhere to go for internships. Many of our industries cannot accommodate apprentices. When it comes to the economy, it is simpler, because there are a lot of financial companies, banks, insurance companies that can provide quality practice. However, for various technological sciences, we do not have companies capable of receiving practitioners. Where, for example, can pharmacy students learn how to make medicines and where can they go to practice with us, when we do not make medicines in Serbia, but only package them?
What should be changed in the work of state faculties in order to make their programs more modern?
Frankly, faculties do not respond promptly to the needs of society and future generations. Especially the state ones, which sometimes need decades to change one program. We all know that times are different and something else is wanted. These things are changed in every country in the world through government incentives. Many of the incentives that colleges receive come outside of the annual plan. Colleges receive financial aid by someone paying for their electricity or covering their costs for some tax, but this is not a planning incentive.
What then would constitute a planning incentive?
It would be part of the planning incentive if someone said: "Let's internationalize the university", and then work would be done on the modernization of the program. 40 years ago, there were about 40000 foreign students in Yugoslavia, and they came from all over the world. Why wouldn't they be able to come today?
The situation is not better when it comes to primary and secondary schools. What does that say about the whole picture of our education??
I would say that our education, despite everything that is happening to us, is still pretty solid. That education has value. Many teachers are truly ideal leaders and are able to motivate and positively influence students. However, the truth is that school is less and less relevant if one looks at it from a practical side. Schools are less and less relevant to what awaits children in society. But the schools themselves are still the place that provides all our young people with a serious foundation for a career. Therefore, whoever finishes school with us has something to hope for. The education system is not that much in ruins as far as the quality of work is concerned. Where it has really collapsed is the number of available teachers. In recent years, we have fewer teachers of mathematics, physics, and English.
Because of this, the motivation of people to work in education decreases?
Because those people can work elsewhere for a higher salary. Also, when choosing a college, young people will rather choose to study to become a programmer than to be a teacher. In addition to not having enough inflow of teachers, we also have a large outflow of them because teachers are not well paid, so they are looking for better jobs. What particularly frustrates workers is the inability to advance. When you go to a company, you have a huge number of ladders up which you can progress. Anyone who gets a job at a school can hope to be in the same job in 10 years.
How do you assess the position of educators in schools?, but also in society?
Society has changed, the attitude towards school is such that, if parents do not respect school workers, then children will not have it either. It's a matter of upbringing from the family and I think it's a picture of society. If no one in society respects education, then students will not respect their teachers either. It is a logical consequence of the kind of society we have. Another thing is that teachers are not taught how to deal with some new challenges. Children are not what they used to be.
Teachers do not know how to help students who have problems with motivation. If you have someone who is just at such an age that it is difficult for him to focus on anything and he does not have any clear interests, then the teacher should help him. This is what is missing here and our schools have become only teaching without any life outside of teaching. Sections that were once very popular rarely exist in any school today. Also, excursions have become optional and some don't go on them either because they are too expensive or because they are not interested, which is devastating.
Students have no special motivation for learning since nothing is offered to them after that. They see bad examples in the environment and that those who did not finish school have made a successful business. If they see that for some things it is much more important to have a membership card of a certain party than what they have completed at school, then this has a very detrimental effect on their motivation because they see that learning cannot be easy. All learning takes time and is difficult. If the alternative is to look for a shortcut, many will fail that exam and take that simpler option. We seem to motivate our students to bypass obstacles and look for small doors. The motivation mostly comes from them seeing what the world around them looks like and deciding whether school is important for their success or not. If they see that it will not help them in the future, they will not learn.
Less than two days of blockade - that's how long it took to see how weak and powerless the public media service is, both from the outside and from the inside. At the moment of writing this text, it is the eighth day of the blockade, and the sixth that RTS is not broadcasting its program. They also seem to be facing a strike inside the house. And the essence of blocking RTS is not in what it publishes, but in what it keeps silent
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The rector of the University of Belgrade, Vladan Đokić, has been the target of top state officials and regime tabloids for months, who label him as an insidious instigator of student protests, an opportunist, "the face of evil" and "the leader of the criminal octopus." How and why a rector became "state enemy number one"
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Private universities, domestic and foreign, will be entitled to funding from the budget, and the status of a budget student will likely be handed out more by favor and loyalty than by merit. I do not share the opinion of the Minister of Education that young people leave this country because there are no good universities. They are leaving this country because there is no hope left in it. And without quality education, there is no future
