Conference held at the University of Sarajevo: “Higher education, public universities and development perspectives”

A conference “Higher education, public universities and development perspectives” was held at the University of Sarajevo on Thursday, 1 December 2022. The conference was organized by the Rector's Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The goal of the conference was to summarize the current state of public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the perspective of development in the coming period.

The conference was opened with welcome addresses by Prof. Dr. Rifat Škrijelj, University of Sarajevo Rector and President of the Rectors' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Academician Lidija Lincender-Cvijetić, Vice President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Prof. Škrijelj, UNSA Rector and president of the Rectors' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in his welcome address, extended a warm welcome to the attendees and expressed his gratitude for being part of this scientific conference.

“The Rector's Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina discussed the topic of challenges in the development of higher education on several occasions. Our decision was to organize a conference through which we would send messages both to current politicians and the public, and ultimately to the members of the academic community and our students to know what the challenges are that we all face”. He also referred to the reduced number of students in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and emphasized that this is another challenge for public universities. “The factual situation is that the demographic picture of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the countries in the region, has changed so that today we have a much smaller number of students. One of the reasons is the decline in the birth rate in the countries of the Western Balkans, which affected Western Europe much earlier.”

Academician Lidija Lincender-Cvijetić in her welcome address emphasized that “It is truly an honor to be in this building, in this roof of science and culture.” She emphasized that during this turbulent age, it is important to talk about higher education and science. She expressed concern about how far science has come, and what is happening with scientific personnel. She also expressed the hope that the conclusions from today's conference “will open windows and give light to young people so that they will get the will and desire to be teachers, professors, academics.”

In a statement to the media, Prof. Dr. Enes Hašić, Director of the Agency for the Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance of Bosnia and Herzegovina, spoke about the basic challenges of public universities, but also about solutions. when it comes to the sphere of science and scientific research work, he pointed out that we all have to understand that the percentage allocated for science in BiH is 0.2%, which is below all standards and criteria. He also added that it is necessary to develop such a model of education that will attract students from other countries and that all this requires material and other investments, teaching in English, and other spaces and paths in education in order to become attractive for student exchange.

“When the overall situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina turns to economic and other issues in a certain way, I believe that this will have an effect on higher education as well. As long as we are preoccupied with issues that are not the priority of any person's life, we have constant migrations, or rather emigrations of the best, most promising personnel, parents, and children. We have to keep the population,” said director Hašić.

Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Nikolić, Minister of Science, Higher Education and Youth of Sarajevo Canton also participated in the work of the conference.

Within the conference, seven topics were discussed:

• Scientific research work at public universities - legislation, organization and financing as development factors
• Legal regulation of higher education
• Financing and autonomy of public universities
• Admission policy and studies
• Prospects for the development of public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina - optimization of resources
• Quality assurance and accreditation
• International cooperation and inter-university cooperation - possibilities and perspectives

Academician Dr. Dejan Milošević, full member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Prof. Dr. Zoran Tomić, rector of the University of Mostar spoke about the topic Research at the BH Public Universities – Legal Framework, Organization and Financing.

Prof. Dr. Enes Hašić, director of the Agency for the Development of Higher Education and Quality Assurance of BiH, Prof. Dr. Alena Huseinbegović, rector of the University “Džemal Bijedić” of Mostar, Prof. Dr. Fadil Islamović, rector of the University of Bihać and Prof. Dr. Larisa Velić, Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Zenica, spoke about the Legal Regulation of Higher Education.

Financing and autonomy of public universities is a topic discussed by prof. Prof. Dr. Tarik Zaimović, vice chancellor for finance of the University of Sarajevo, while Prof. Dr. Dženana Husremović, Vice-Rector For Teaching and Student Affairs at the University of Sarajevo.

On the subject of Perspective development of public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina - optimization of resources was spoken by Prof. Dr. Zdenko Klepić, vice-rector for business, human resources and quality management of the University of Mostar.

Presentation on the subject of quality assurance and accreditation was given by Dr. Sc. Enes Dedić, expert advisor for quality assurance of the University of Bihać, and M.Sc. Mensur Herić, quality administrator at the Center for Internal Evaluation and Quality Assurance of the University of Tuzla.

International cooperation and inter-university cooperation - possibilities and perspectives is the topic discussed by prof. Prof. Dr. Enita Nakaš, Vice-Rector For International Cooperation at the University of Sarajevo, Prof. Dr. Sanja Bijakšić, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation of the University of Mostar, and Prof. Dr. Elvis Ahmetović, full professor at the Faculty of Technology, University of Tuzla.