Recognition of Academic Qualifications
The actions on the recognition of academic qualifications build on the priorities outlined in the South East 2020 Strategy and the work carried out by ERI SEE as part of the ERI SEE Work Programme, as well as the work within the framework of the Bologna process and the relevant recommendations adopted by the Ministers of Education at the Bologna Ministerial Conference in May 2015 as outlined in the Yerevan Communique, and is stressed as a priority withing the Common Regional Market Action Plan), endorsed by Prime ministers of the region.
In the period from 2018 – 2022 a number of meetings of the ERI SEE-RCC Joint Regional Working Group on Recognition of Academic Qualifications took place, shaping future in the area of recognition of higher education qualifications in the Western Balkans, which were successfully completed with the signing of the regional Agreement on Mutual Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications in the Western Balkans 6, in the framework of the Berlin Process, in November 2022.
With that in mind, continuous activities are held:
- On 25-26 October 2022 the Workshop on the recognition of higher education qualifications and quality assurance in higher education was organised in Zagreb, Croatia
- 7th meeting of the WG RAQ was organized in Tirana, 4th-5th February 2020
- presentation of the work of the WG RAQ in the 8th Western Balkans Platform on Education and Training (WB PET), 4th June 2019 in Belgrade
- 6th meeting of the WG RAQ, which was held on 13th May 2019 in Brussels, where the text of the Declaration on Recognition of Academic Qualifications was discussed and the Joint information system facilitating recognition of academic qualifications in its testing form was presented to the group
- 4th meeting of the WG RAQ was organized in Sarajevo, 13th December 2018
- 5th meeting of the WG RAQ took place in Podgorica, 27th March 2019, where the joint exercise on the recognition of academic qualifications was implemented, and participants were presented the first version of the Joint Information System facilitating recognition of academic qualifications.
- on 26th June 2018, the results of the work of the WG RAQ were presented during the 7th Ministerial meeting under the European Commission’s Western Balkans Platform on Education and Training (https://ec.europa.eu/education/events/7th-meeting-western-balkans-platform_en)
- on 14th June 2018, the 3rd meeting of the WG RAQ was organized in Brussels (Draft_Agenda_3rd meeting of the WG RAQ,
- on 26th March 2018, the 2nd meeting of the Working Group on Recognition of Academic qualifications (WG RAQ), followed by the seminar on automatic recognition, took place in Podgorica (Draft_Agenda_2nd meeting of the WG RAQDraft Agenda_Seminar on Quality Assurance and Recognition of Academic Qualifications in the WB)
- on the 15th December 2017, Belgrade, the Joint Education Reform Initiative of South East Europe (ERI SEE) and Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Working Group on Recognition of Academic Qualifications (WG RAQ) the Western Balkans Six (WB6) was formalized and agreed on the Working Group’s Terms of Reference and the Work Plan on Recognition of Academic Qualifications 2018-2019. (Agenda 1st meeting of the WG RAQ _15 Dec 2017)
- on 14th December 2017, Belgrade, RCC and ERI SEE jointly organized a Seminar on Recognition of Academic Qualifications, to address the Western Balkans Six focus on development of automatic recognition procedures of academic qualifications in the region and commitment to removing of obstacles. (Agenda_Seminar on Recognition of Academic Qualifications_14Dec2017, Report_Seminar on Recognition of Academic Qualifications_14Dec2017)