UNSA Union: Unnecessary further opening of private universities in Sarajevo

SARAJEVO, (Patria) - The University of Sarajevo Union believes that there is no social justification for opening private universities in the Sarajevo Canton, backed by individuals and organizations that are not respectable and have no experience in managing and organizing quality faculties, nor the necessary teaching and associate staff.

"The University of Sarajevo, as the largest and highest quality University in Bosnia and Herzegovina, has not yet reached the required level of quality and scientific results of universities in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade, Split, Novi Sad, Niš, Maribor, despite constant efforts, as measured by the most recognized university ranking lists in the world, such as ARWU Shanghai and CWUR. The opening of non-respectable private universities in KS would undermine the quality of higher education, create unhealthy competition, and reduce the budget for financing the University of Sarajevo due to a decrease in student enrollment and tuition fees paid into the KS budget," the Union stated.

They state that information has appeared in the media about a request submitted to the KS Government for the opening of a new private university, whose founder already owns the International University of Goražde (IUG) in Goražde, and which is associated with the name of Prof. Dr. Hajriz Bećirović.

"However, what is worrying is the fact that the Minister of Education, Science and Youth of the KS Government (Anis Krivić) has already given a positive opinion for the opening of the private university 'University for Business and International Studies' (UBIS), proposed by the Center for Business Education (CEP) from Tuzla, and stated in the opinion that it is a respectable proposer, without providing any arguments to support such a claim. The UNSA Union supports the views of all those who have pointed out in the media that the opening of IUG in Sarajevo is unnecessary, and even harmful in terms of long-term degradation of the quality of higher education and the production of staff with questionable knowledge and skills, although the request for the establishment of IUG was not even on the agenda of the KS Government session, and the request for the establishment of UBIS was on the agenda of the KS Government session and no one thought to inform the public about such a similar case. The UNSA Union opposes and considers the establishment of private universities such as IUG, UBIS, and any other that lacks quality staff, strong infrastructure, and a clear strategy on how it would improve and enhance the quality of teaching and scientific research that we currently have at the University of Sarajevo, to be unnecessary.

Healthy competition would certainly be welcome, but competition that would destroy what we currently have at the University of Sarajevo, absolutely not. On this occasion, we appeal to the KS Government, and especially to the Minister of Education, Science and Youth, to pay special attention and consideration when granting permits for the opening of new universities in KS regarding their socio-economic justification and the reputation of their proposers," the Union concludes.