University Council Slams Draft Education Bill as Threat to Academic Autonomy (2)

Bratislava, 21 July (TASR) – The Slovak Council of Higher Education Institutions (RVS) considers the draft of a new Higher Education Act to be legally unprepared, substantively poor and a step towards further weakening of academic self-governance, warning that its adoption could lead to frequent and unnecessary amendments that would destabilise the higher education environment, RVS chair Martin Putala told TASR on Monday. "RVS demands the immediate withdrawal of the bill and its complete reworking into a simplified version via a partnership dialogue with the academic community. Only then can modern, sustainable and autonomy-respecting legislation be conceived that will contribute to the development of Slovak higher education," said Putala. According to RVS, adopting the current proposal would force a full revision of internal regulations at universities, many of which were only recently adopted or updated. It would also increase administrative burdens without added value and could discourage academic staff from participating in governance — posing a threat to university democracy. RVS also notes that the draft brings no systemic improvements and introduces unnecessary regulation in areas in which academic self-governance should prevail. It further criticises the curtailing of the powers of academic senates. RVS warns that the proposed changes could jeopardise the recognition of Slovak higher education within the European Higher Education Area and weaken the authority of university self-governing bodies. According to the Council, some provisions would strip academic senates of key powers and broaden the grounds for removing board members without clear justification — opening the door to political interference in higher education. Another concern is a new method of removing the executive board of the Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education. The criticism has been joined by the Slovak Higher Education Student Council (SRVS), which has submitted 40 comments as part of the interdepartmental review process for the proposed amendment to the Higher Education Act. The council expressed its hope that the Education Ministry will approach the comments with an interest in constructive dialogue. SRVS emphasised the need for every faculty to have its own student representative in the academic senate, noting that the current draft of the bill does not explicitly guarantee this. The council also criticised a provision that would allow the Education Minister to dismiss members of university boards of trustees without giving any reason, arguing that this could jeopardise the boards' independence. Furthermore, SRVS opposed the requirement that two members of the executive board of the Slovak Accreditation Agency must be current students, stating that such a limitation is unnecessary. The Education, Research, Development and Youth Ministry submitted the proposal for interdepartmental review in early July. mf/df