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SNS and Smer Clash over Proposed Education Act Amendment
Wednesday 17 February 2010 Zoom in | Print page
Bratislava, February 17 (TASR) - Education Minister Jan Mikolaj (SNS) told Government at its session in Holic on Wednesday that Smer-SD MP Mojmir Mamojka is proposing a legislative amendment that if enacted would scupper the entire drive to divide higher-education institutions according to quality.
There are concerns that Mamojka's proposal will expand the study options at the higher-education institutions placed at the bottom of the ministry's table of tertiary education schools by returning powers of conferring Master's, Bachelors and PhD degrees revoked at the recommendation of the ministry's accreditation body last year.
"We are striving to discuss and reason with our governing coalition partner (Smer-SD) that the amendment is a rebuke not only of the Education Minister and SNS but also documents that had been approved by Government – including its manifesto," he said.
According to SNS deputy chairwoman Anna Belousovova, the amendment is an incursion into a sector that falls under the remit of the SNS-controlled education ministry. Education Minister Mikolaj is seeking to prevent the dumbing down of higher education through tightening accreditation conditions. Hence, Mamojka's course of action represents a move backwards and a dismantling of the higher-educatiun reforms carried out by this government.
Belousovova is confident that her party will succeed in preventing the measure from progressing to second reading.
The amendment is being strongly opposed by rectors of universities and some other higher-education institutions. According to them, it would politically impair the positive changes made in the wake of last year's accreditation committee culling of universities that were not up to scratch.
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