Kosova Education Center, a member organization of the Coalition for University Integrity and Transparency (KITU), today organized the conference on “Integrity and Transparency in Higher Education: Challenges and Pathways for Improvement”, which marked the closing activity of the project “Supporting Higher Education through Advocacy and Research-Based Contribution”, which is supported by the Western Balkans Foundation for Open Society.
The conference brought together around 80 professionals and experts in the field, who had the opportunity to share their experiences and discuss the principles of academic integrity and transparency as well as cooperation between public higher education institutions and civil society organizations.
The Minister of the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ms. Arbërie Nagavci in her speech emphasized that the commitment and purpose of KITU coincide with the priorities of MESTI for ensuring quality in higher education and consequently for the development of Kosovar society.
The Director of the Kosovo Accreditation Agency, Mr. Naim Gashi, expressed his gratitude for the cooperation with KITU and presented the successes of KAA as a model institution for raising the culture of quality in higher education.
Over the years, KITU has actively worked to strengthen mechanisms that foster accountability and to promote a culture of academic trust and responsibility. One of the issues for which KITU has advocated has been the creation of the position of Ombudsperson in public universities, which has been implemented in the new Statute of the University of Pristina. Prof. Dr. Xhavit Rexhaj presented the results of the cooperation with the University of Pristina in this regard and the concept for the functioning of the position of Ombudsperson in this institution.
Discussions in three panels focused on the role of coalitions, assessing the performance of higher education institutions, and the need for academic integrity as a tool for transforming social morality.
