Today, the Rector of Mother Teresa University in Skopje, Lecturer Izet Zeqiri, Ph.D., participated in the scientific debate on higher education organized by MASA Ksente Bogoev Center for Strategic Research.
At the debate organized as part of the activities for the implementation of the 2024 Work Program, in cooperation with the RM Interuniversity Conference and the National Council for Higher Education, Rector Zeqiri presented his thesis, “The Current Model of Financing Higher Education and the Typology of the Indicators Funding,” emphasizing that the method of financing higher education is mainly related to the competences of the Higher Education Financing Council and that, according to the Law on Higher Education, the Government of the Republic of Macedonia must approve and implement the Decree on Measures and Criteria for Financing Activities of Higher Education Institutions.
“In the current situation, the Ministry of Education partially implements the standards and criteria approved in the 1988 Agreement on Self-Government, i.e., it defines the area of activity in higher education and determines the amount of funds that must be provided from the Budget of the Republic of Macedonia, while universities themselves have many problems in the allocation of budget funds, which is also recorded in the audit reports,” stated Rector Zeqiri.
Rector Zeqiri proposed adopting a new financing model, for which it is necessary to approve a strategy for financing higher education according to the analysis and needs of the state and its financing in realistic terms.
“To approve the Decree on Measures and Criteria for Financing Activities of Higher Education Institutions and, in addition, the entry criteria and the exit criteria for financing the higher education institutions should be used,” Zeqiri reminded.
The cycle of scientific and professional debates dedicated to higher education is to continue in the following weeks, while the idea is to start 2024 on the subject matter of how to find the most appropriate model for financing higher education and scientific research, as well as how to help the National Council for Higher Education and Scientific Research work on the development of four key documents for higher education and educational and scientific research activities, which should be completed in the next 18 months.