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| Mynyr Koni in his office in Tirana |
The Education Minister of Albania, Besa Shahini in a statement to the media communicated the suspension of the rector of the University of Tirana, Mynyr Koni.
Minister Besa Shahini stated that she has taken the decision to come up with a solution for the University of Tirana.The decision to dismiss the Rector Koni is taken by the President Meta, to whom Shahini is convinced that Meta will make the right decision for his dismissal.
"It is difficult to take the decision to suspend a rector who is elected by vote. Convinced that the president will make the right decision to solve the crash at the University of Tirana." says Shahini among other things.
Part of the statement
I saw the student protest as an opportunity for the university, ministry, students, and all of us to gather forces to deepen reform in higher education in order to provide quality education in our universities.
The Higher Education Law brought an innovation to university management. He ultimately shared the academic and administrative decision-making within the university so that rectors, deans and lecturers would deal with issues related to the quality of education - literature, scientific research, academic titles, hiring teachers - while administrators dealing with issues dealing with day-to-day financial management, procurement, buildings, etc.
It is modeled on the most successful universities in the world because it has been proven that facilitating structures from administrative burdens always results in higher education quality.
This model has been operating in all public universities in Albania besides the University of Tirana. The Rector of the University of Tirana did not have enough academic competence, but he also wanted to retain administrative powers that are not legally required. In some cases, he has not allowed the relevant bodies to exercise their powers, which has caused an open battle between the leading bodies at the University of Tirana to the detriment of the teaching process, the quality of education and student experience.
In February 2018, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Youth (MASR) sent an inspection team to the University of Tirana to verify the implementation of the Higher Education Law in that institution. The inspection team found a violation of the decision-making bodies, the rector, the senate and the administrative part, and made clear recommendations for addressing them.
In the fall of 2018, the working group returns to the University of Tirana to see the implementation of the given recommendations and finds that from all the governing bodies, only the Rector did not implemented any of the recommendations of the Ministry...
While until now we have no reactions by Koni.