On 07 September 2021 Kosovo Higher Education Conference 2021 took place today. A unique event gathering all Higher Education (HE) sector stakeholders including representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI), rectors and vice-rectors of public universities, donor funded projects, HE experts, representatives of students, etc. The event is opened by the Deputy Minister of MESTI, Ms. Edona Maloku-Bërdyna, the First Secretary of the Austrian Embassy in Prishtina, Mr. Martin Schaller, the President of Rector’s Conference, Mr. Alush Musaj, and the Team Leader of HERAS+ Project Mr. Aqim Emurli.

The Conference aimed at discussing the most relevant matters in the framework of developments and reforms in the HE sector Kosovo. In this context, the event provided a platform for discussion on current capacities and future prospects of Kosovo Higher Education sector. The need for a better policy dialogue and evidence-based policy making are identified as the underlining themes of discussions and the proposed line of action.

To facilitate and streamline discussions during the Conference, the Project has drafted a working paper, which was presented and discussed with the participants. Mr. Bastian Baumann and Mr. Jeton Mehmeti, an international and a local expert respectively, were engaged by the Project to specifically handle this task.

The draft working paper examines topics such as: legal framework, governance and strategic planning, international affairs and academic mobility, research development and innovation, teaching capacities and learning outcomes, labour market relevance of the programmes, quality assurance, students affairs, etc. Recommendations for future action and development was outlined and discussed too. In this regard, the draft working paper is synthesis of baseline assessments of public universities conducted by international and local experts within the HERAS Plus Project.

The Project Team collected inputs and feedback from the discussion during the Conference and based on these input and feedback the draft working paper will be further streamlined into a Policy Brief that will be shared with all participants.