Kosovo entered EQAR 10 years ago, return after exclusion in 2018 is heralded as “historic news” and “personal achievement”
Express newspaper
15/07/2025 15:14
Yesterday, numerous reports announced that the Kosovo Accreditation Agency became a member of the European Register for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, EQAR. The acting Minister of Education, Arbërie Nagavci, quickly, through a video address on the social network Facebook, confusing the name of the agency, described this as great news for Kosovo. In addition to confusing the name, Nagavci in her statement left another fact aside by not mentioning it at all. The fact that the KAA had first become a member of EQAR in 2015 in Dublin, writes Gazeta Express.
Besides Nagavci, there is also Naim Gashi, director of AKA, who reacted with excitement about this.
The same one proudly shared the “historic news” that Kosovo was accepted into EQAR. He said that it is his greatest professional achievement and one of the greatest achievements of Kosovo.
He also described Kosovo’s membership as a “prestigious status”, which only Kosovo has in the Western Balkans.
“We are proud to share the historic news: Kosovo has been officially accepted into the European Quality Assurance Register in Higher Education (EQAR) – becoming the first country in the Western Balkans to achieve this prestigious status! This extraordinary achievement confirms Kosovo’s commitment to quality education and European standards.
“Our diplomas now bear the seal of European quality, opening the doors of the future for our students,” he wrote.
But, with a quick search, one can easily find the announcement made 10 years ago by the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation regarding this issue.
From MASTI, stated that Kosovo’s admission to EQAR is a very important development for the internationalization of higher education in the country
”Kosovo’s admission to EQAR is a very important development for the internationalization of higher education in Kosovo and contributes to the improvement and advancement of quality in higher education, as well as a new opportunity for connecting our institutions and students in the European higher education system. KAA’s membership in EQAR, following its previous membership in ENQA, testifies to KAA’s professional work in implementing European standards and best practices in quality assurance in higher education,” the ministry’s announcement at the time stated, among other things.
AKA continued to be part of EQAR for several years, until its exclusion in 2018.
This exclusion was made due to dissatisfaction expressed by EQAR itself regarding the dismissal of the AKA board in 2017 by the then government led by Ramush Haradinaj.
Even former Prime Minister Haradinaj himself had spoken out about this issue, as it had sparked debate at the time.
Haradinaj had expressed his disagreement with the situation in education.
“I expressed a disagreement in a situation, this is the goal and this is the truth of what happened. This is not just an assessment of the values of individuals, but this is an assessment of the situation in the sector. It is not for anything else but for another restart, for increasing quality, because we dare not allow a situation that does not fulfill the mission of comprehensive education,” Haradinaj had declared at the time.
Regarding the dismissal of this board, myself EQAR was directed with a letter to the then Minister of Education, Shyqiri Bytyqi.
In the letter to Bytyqi, EQAR emphasized that AKA is subject to supervision by EQAR itself, for compliance with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area.
Furthermore, it was said that the dismissal of the entire agency leadership could call into question whether the KAA continues to meet the required standards.
“We would greatly appreciate it if you could explain to us the reasons for the decision to dismiss the entire leadership of AAK, in particular what exactly were the irregularities for which its leaders were allegedly responsible. We would also be grateful if you could inform us when a new acting head and new members of the AAK board are expected to be appointed, as well as what is the process that will be followed for these appointments,” the EQAR letter to former Minister Bytyqi stated.
Meanwhile, with the return of AKA to EQAR, there have been other reactions. It was Rron Gjinovci, from ORCA, who commented on this issue.
The same, unlike Nagavci, emphasized that this is the return of AKA. Gjinovci in his comment attributed this mainly to some individuals, alluding that ”the path has been constantly obstructed by various actors”.
“This return marks a great institutional success, but above all, a victory for independent professionals against the political interventions of recent years. Despite this success, ORCA recalls that the path has been constantly obstructed by various actors. The purpose of these interventions has been to facilitate accreditation for private institutions, often at the expense of clientelistic interests, sabotaging public universities that have invested with dedication in high academic standards,” Gjinovci wrote, among other things.
In addition to this, the chairwoman of the State Quality Council, Hasnije Ilazi, also made a statement, describing it as ”a very big success”.
“This is a very big success, because we are the first country in the Western Balkans to have entered the European register and is now equal to all European institutions, and that in some way our work and not just work, some kind of perseverance, dedication,” she said yesterday. /Express newspaper