Is the minority quota system in higher education being abused?
The quota system in higher level education, designed to offer an opportunity to students from minority communities to apply for and register their studies in Kosovo’s public universities, has been reported to have been misused by students not belonging to minority communities. Issues with the quota system for members of minority communities have been raised repeatedly. The Assembly Committee on the Rights and Interests of CIs ommunities and Return called on the Minister of Education, Arsim Bajrami, and on the rector of the University of Pristina, Ramadan Zejnullahu, to issue a third call for registration for students from minority communities, alleging that only 30 of the 382 slots foreseen for minority students were filled up by students from minority communities themselves. Though there was initial agreement to do so, no such call has been opened yet and no explanation has been given by the Ministry of Education or public universities as to that is so. The reserved quota system for minority communities is an important step towards their integration into the higher-level education system offered by Kosovo. Therefore, the problems faced by minority community students should be given due attention and care. In particular, we would recommend that the Ministry of Education and the rectors of Kosovo’s public universities take appropriate measures to avoid misuse of the quota system by non-minority students, by instituting a verification mechanism designed to ensure that students registered under the quota system genuinely belong to minority communities.