At universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, autonomy and academic freedom are increasingly threatened by political pressures, while higher education, instead of reforms and development, is engaged in defending its own institutional independence, it was said today at a session of the Association of Independent Intellectuals “Krug 99” on the topic “Autonomy and Academic Freedom of Universities in BiH and the European Space”.
The keynote speakers were the rector of the University of Zenica Jusuf Duraković, former rector of the University of Sarajevo Muharem Avdispahić and former rector of the “Džemal Bijedić” University in Mostar Elvir Zlomušica.
Duraković warned that academic freedom is rarely discussed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, although university autonomy and academic self-government are guaranteed by the Framework Law on Higher Education of BiH.
According to him, the problem arises because lower levels of government, primarily cantons, often no longer respect legal acts, which opens up space for political influence on the management of universities.
He pointed out that in the last four years, the University of Zenica has received four decisions from the Constitutional Court of BiH, which declared certain provisions of the Cantonal Law on Higher Education unconstitutional and inconsistent with the state framework law.
He recalled that the disputed provisions were those by which the cantonal government gave its consent to the election of the rector and vice-rector, the right of the board of directors to adopt the university statute, as well as the possibility of removing the rector.
“We have a problem with arrogant politics and the government that wants to put the University of Zenica under complete political control,” said Duraković.
He emphasized that an additional problem is the fact that the issue of the law’s compliance with the Framework Law can only be raised through court proceedings, after which the regular court decides whether to refer the case to the Constitutional Court of BiH.
Speaking about European experiences, Avdispahić reminded that the university is one of the rare institutions that has maintained continuity and a recognizable social role throughout the centuries.
He said that the European tradition of higher education is based on academic freedom, institutional autonomy and self-government of universities, from the Humboldt tradition to the modern European Higher Education Area.
He also recalled the Magna Charta Universitatum from 1988, signed by the rectors of European universities, including the University of Sarajevo, emphasizing that this document confirms the inseparability of higher education, research and university autonomy.
Avdispahić stated that the modern European model implies that the state defines the legal framework, strategic goals and the total grant for funding, while the university independently manages funds, plans development and makes academic decisions.
“The key European principle is that the state defines goals, and the university chooses the academic mechanisms for their achievement, not that the ministry operationally manages academic decisions,” said Avdispahić.
He also assessed that the existing treasury business model raises the question of whether universities are independent public institutions or merely administrative users of budget funds.
Zlomušica warned that universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina lag behind most countries that emerged from the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, and he sees one of the reasons precisely in the endangered autonomy of higher education institutions.
He said that universities are too concerned with themselves and political pressures, instead of reforms and inclusion in processes that would bring them closer to the quality of European universities.
According to him, the interference of political parties and religious communities in the work of universities is evident, but also the absence of stronger resistance within the academic community itself.
As an example of resistance to pressure, he cited the University of Belgrade, which in recent years, as he said, has been exposed to strong political attacks.
Zlomušica assessed that the autonomy of universities in BiH is today, to a greater or lesser extent, threatened at all higher education institutions.
