State Secretary for Higher Education and Academic Research, Róbert Zsembera, has presented changes to the draft of the new higher education law following consultations with partners. He assured that the law is not intended to politicize or interfere with academic autonomy. He also emphasized that the legislative process is still ongoing and that the final draft will be submitted to the government only after all negotiations are completed.
According to Zsembera, the law aims to clearly define the concepts of academic freedom and self-governance. He announced that the ministry will not be able to dismiss a member of the board of directors without stating a reason and will not interfere with the current terms of office of members of the executive board of the Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education.
He explained that the current nomination-based system for electing executive board members will be replaced by an open selection process, in which all three legal representatives of higher education institutions will be represented on a five-member selection committee.
In agreement with its partners, the ministry is also introducing additional measures. As the state secretary explained, these include mandatory sabbaticals for university teachers and changes to employment contracts to make academic careers more attractive and stable.
According to him, students' rights will also be strengthened. The ministry will allow high-quality diploma and dissertation theses to be recognized as rigorous works and will emphasize the social responsibility of universities.
Source: TASR
