New Kosova Report

Kosovo universities start new academic year

Thursday, 02 October 2008

Kosovo public universities began on Wednesday the new academic year for higher education students. The Education Ministry increased the number of seats for entering students to 11,000 seats from the 8,000 proposed by the deans of these schools.

Education Minister Enver Hoxhaj said that he will still work on increasing the number students in public and private universities in the next few years. However, the ministry will still try to entice students to 2,000 seats opened at the last moment “in fields beneficial to the economy.”

Kosovo’s public universities have struggled to undergo reforms to meet European-wide Bologna criteria while at the same time meeting the increased demands by Kosovo's youthful population. University of Prishtina is the central higher education institution in Kosovo. There are several other small public universities in Prishtina and other cities that train teachers in different disciplines.

A number of private universities have sprung up in recent years in Kosovo to fill the cracks left by the public universities. These universities cost considerably more; however, their accreditation has become controversial due to doubts about quality and integrity, and except the American University of Kosovo, none seems to have met the criteria to get accreditation this year. Kosovo public universities are now trying to absorb these students into the public system, leading to the need for a massive increase in the number of places offered.