The Ministry of Education announced that it will conduct an extraordinary inspection of the University of Belgrade in order to, as they state, determine all relevant facts and circumstances relating to the procedure for changing the Statute of that University.
“Regarding allegations that appeared in the public about irregularities during the last vote at the Council of the University of Belgrade concerning the change of the Statute of this higher education institution, which relates to changing the method of voting for candidacy for the future rector of the university, the Ministry of Education, with the aim of protecting the reputation and integrity of our largest university, will conduct an extraordinary inspection to determine all relevant facts and circumstances relating to the procedure for changing the Statute of the University of Belgrade,” the statement reads.
They add that the Educational Inspection, in accordance with legal authorizations, will take appropriate actions to determine the legality of the work of the Council of the University of Belgrade and remove all possible doubts regarding the regularity of the vote at the last session of this body.
The Ministry of Education expressed great concern regarding, as they state in the announcement, statements by some professors of the University of Belgrade, who insist that the “future rector should come from their (opposition) political spectrum”.
The Ministry reminds that the Law on Higher Education strictly prohibits any political activity at the university and other higher education institutions, which is also contrary to the autonomy of the university guaranteed by the constitution and the law.
“The autonomy of the university is reflected primarily in the autonomy of teaching and scientific research work. The rector, as a man of the university, its leader, and management body, must have adequate academic qualifications, moral integrity, and willingness to accept democratic and libertarian principles and the spirit of the law and Constitution of Serbia. In this context, the attempt to politicize the outcome of the last session of the Council of the University of Belgrade obligates the Ministry of Education to determine all relevant facts and circumstances of holding the last session of this body through inspection supervision, with the aim of protecting legality and the interests of the academic community and the public,” stands in the announcement.
As a reminder, according to Danas, the Council of the University of Belgrade adopted a decision to amend the UB Statute, which provides that a candidate for rector must win a majority of votes in the Senate in order to proceed to the Council, which elects the rector.
Iva Draškić Vićanović, Dean of the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade, who is one of the signatories of the initiative to amend the Statute, stated that the idea was to establish a correct and fair procedure for electing a rector, namely that the person who wins an absolute majority of votes in the Senate be the sole candidate proceeding to the Council.
“Also, we had in mind to align the election of the rector with the way deans are elected at faculties. There was an illogical difference there. A dean is elected by an absolute majority of votes, by secret ballot in the teaching-scientific council, after which one candidate is proposed to the Council. However, in the election of the rector, the principle applied that a candidate who receives one-third of the votes goes to the Council. Thus, an illogical and unfair situation was reached where the Council could elect a person who received far fewer votes, without any explanation,” she told Danas.
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Source: N1; Photo: bg.ac.rs