It was chaired by Xavier Prats Monné, Director General for Education and Culture at the European Commission, and brought together six education ministers from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, as well as their key staff. Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama came for the opening of the meeting.

Ministerial meeting

This year was the first time that the ministers reported on the developments in higher education since 2013, based on the commitments they presented during the 2nd WB PET Ministerial meeting (Turin, 2013).

This reporting system was trialled on the topic of higher education, a top priority identified by ministers at the launch of the Platform in 2012. Following on from the written submitted before the meeting, each minister showcased an example of an implemented reform grouped under 3 broad categories:

• accreditation and quality assurance mechanisms;
• linking higher education with the labour market and country strategic objectives;
• investing in higher education for innovation, learning mobility and transparency.

An important outcome of the meeting was the agreement on several regional projects(221 kB) on education where the ministries will cooperate, such as evidence-gathering and analytical information, support for networks and reforms, and developing the organisations and rules necessary to participate in EU programmes. The projects will be further developed and implemented over the coming years.

The next meeting will focus on teacher training and the progress countries made in implementing the recommendations stemming from the 2013 study and stakeholder conference on this topic.

More information and presentations are available here.

Source: European Commission, Education and Training