Round table on recommendations for harmonization with European standards for quality assurance in higher education

Issues important for the process of quality assurance in higher education in Serbia and possible ways to solve and improve them were discussed at the round table organised in Belgrade on November 5. The recommendations, based on previous analyses of the degree of harmonization with European quality standards in higher education developed with the support of the “EU support to Reform of Education in Serbia – RediS 2030” project and in cooperation with working groups of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the National Accreditation Body, were the basis for discussion.

Representatives of the National Accreditation Body, the Accreditation Commission, the National Council for Higher Education, the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, as well as a student representative participated in the discussion on recommendations for harmonization with European quality assurance standards in higher education.

Among others, the following challenges were discussed: the roles of the National Council for Higher Education and the National Accreditation Body in the accreditation process, their mutual relations and challenges in their work; possibilities and preconditions for efficient use of NAT-2019 software; organization of the work of the National Accreditation Body, the need for legal and ICT support; the scope and nature of the required documentation, possibilities for its rational reduction in formal categories and increasing the focus on quality.

The topics of the round table were also greater attention to the formulation of the purpose, goals and outcomes of higher education institutions and how certain curricula contribute to the realization of that purpose, goals and outcomes; insufficient focus on teaching and learning in the documents of the National Accreditation Body and higher education institutions; specifying procedures in the accreditation procedure; the existing appeal procedure and its alternative solutions; function and nature of verification (visit to higher education institutions between two accreditations); selection, training, monitoring and evaluation of reviewers' work.

Special emphasis during the discussion was on adapting the findings and recommendations of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) to our socio-cultural and educational context.