On Wednesday, 5 July 2017, round-table discussions on integrity in higher education in Serbia took place at the Metropol Palace Hotel in Belgrade. This event was part of the “Strengthen Integrity and Combat Corruption in Higher Education in Serbia” project implemented under the larger EU – Council of Europe programme ‘Horizontal Facility for Western Balkans and Turkey’.
The primary purpose of the round-table was to present and discuss the draft “Baseline assessment on integrity in higher education in Serbia“ which provides recommendations on developing tools to increase integrity and fight corruption in the higher education system in Serbia using the Council of Europe approaches. The assessment, completed by the Council of Europe experts, Professors Ian Smith and Tom Hamilton, will serve as a starting point for specific activities under this project.
The round-table was attended by around 100 participants including the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, the National Council for Higher Education, the Commission for Accreditation and Quality Assurance, the Conference of Universities of Serbia, the Anti-Corruption Agency, the Committee on Education, Science, Technological Development and Information Society of the Parliament of Serbia, students’ associations, public and private universities and faculties, colleges of applied sciences, civil society organisations and other relevant partners.
Speakers at the opening session included Professor Vesna Mandić, Assistant Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, Mr Steffen Hudolin, Head of Section at the EU Delegation to Serbia; and Mr Tim Cartwright, Head of the Council of Europe Office in Belgrade.
