The National Council of the Slovak Republic is negotiating an amending proposal on higher education institutions, which will enable the accreditation of study programmes offered by several higher education institutions together. This is an important change for those Slovak universities that are able to attract in the international environment. Current legislation does not allow the Agency to accept an application for accreditation for such study programmes.
“Slovakia needs to open higher education institutions to a more intensive cooperation and the international environment. Participation in the international consortium and the study programme provided together with renowned foreign universities will certainly help to improve the quality of higher education, which we strive for,” said Robert Redhammer, the Chair of the Agency’s Executive Board in response to government and national councils. “Graduates of such study programmes will gain more experience and better employment in the labor market, as employers appreciate education gained in an international environment,” he added.
Several Slovak universities were accepted in consortia and also received funding for the preparation of joint study programmes. It would be a great pity if they could not use the foreign experience to improve their own work and the education they provide.
These are consortia of schools in schemes such as Erasmus +, “European Higher education institutions”, which bring together elite European schools, or the ACCORD project of the two largest schools in Bratislava, funded by the Structural Funds.
Several universities are involved in the Innovation Communities of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), which are elite clusters for technical universities. It is a success that Slovak schools have joined such consortia. The proposed legislation, which will allow the accreditation of joint learning, will help to make fuller use of such opportunities to improve education.
