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Mikolaj: Shutting Down Universities Would Be Inappropriate
Monday 28 December 2009 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, December 28 (TASR) - Education Minister Jan Mikolaj (SNS) told TASR on Monday that he doesn't want Slovak universities to "spring up like mushrooms" regardless of their quality.
Miklolaj is therefore preparing to tighten up the requirements for setting up new universities. The changes will only be quality-oriented, however.
"The first phase of a new university's life is totally benevolent. The institution enjoys what amounts to a five-year break in terms of its quality, during which it is free to issue diplomas, and that's a mistake," said Mikolaj.
An extensive accreditation process is currently taking place to evaluate and divide universities into a number of categories.
Mikolaj emphasised that he doesn't want to shut down any existing universities. "That would be inappropriate. We set up the system so that universities will either improve to a certain quality level and continue to exist or not improve and cease to exist. A third alternative is to merge with another university," he said.
In the past, Slovakia lacked people with a university education (when compared to the overall population), and according to Mikolaj it's understandable that a couple of years ago the criteria allowed as many Slovaks to study as possible.
"It quickly went to the other extreme, however. Almost 70 percent of young people born in a certain year are studying at universities, whereas specialist secondary-school leavers are few and far between," cautioned Mikolaj, who added that the ministry will attempt to lower the number of university students to 50-55 percent so that Slovakia will come closer to the European standard.
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