In September, students who entered the faculty before 2005 will have the opportunity to continue their education. The Ministry for "Time" talks about the students' requests for a new date, and the deans about how many such students there are and what they know about the extension
Anđelka from Novi Sad will lose her right to... university education.
The reason is simple, she enrolled in the faculty in 2004, before the introduction of the popularly named "Bologna". Since then, she changed four jobs, started an extramarital union and gave birth to two children. But it causes her special stress that every fall she has to return to the university again and renew her senior year. Because she still has two more exams to graduate.
"I really like that period of study and I remember it fondly, I also like to pass by the college," she tells "Vreme". "But when I have to renew the year once a year, I feel like the biggest failure in my life. I feel very ashamed."
She has been working in the profession for 12 years, and nobody asked her for a diploma in her life. Simply, she is not necessary for her workplace. At job interviews, she was always asked "what did you graduate from?", and Anđelka would tell them that she studied literature. That would be the end of it.
If Anđelka does not set aside these six months for her old school obligations and pass the exams, the question is whether she will have a chance. Today it is written that it is being considered that I am getting old with this to students extend the right to education for another year, under the explanation of student blockades and the difficult work of the university during 2025.
The Ministry of Education neither confirmed nor denied this possibility for "Vreme".
"As before, the Ministry of Education will analyze the justification of any student requests for an extension of this deadline," they told "Vreme". "The Law on Higher Education from 2005 regulates the way students enrolled in studies before the entry into force of this law can transfer to study programs approved or accredited in accordance with the law."
As a temporary solution in order to protect acquired rights, the law of 2005 enabled the completion of the studies started by these old students. That deadline has been extended several times at the request of the students, the Ministry adds, until September 30, 2026.
Colleges don't like to have a lot of college dropouts on their books, but on the other hand, they can make money off of them every year. At least from those who are renewing their student internship, like Anđelka. For example, the Faculty of Organizational Sciences in Belgrade charges 171.000 dinars for undergraduate studies. Renewal of the year for students who have the status of "pays school fees", enrolled in 2005 and earlier, is charged 60.000 dinars.
No one knows what their exact number is. Some estimates are that there are 10.000 of them, and the number of those who "have a couple of exams left to finish" is certainly much higher, but they do not report to the faculties.
"Vreme" spoke to four deans from the University of Belgrade, and none of them has yet received any information from the Ministry of Education about possible extensions of this deadline.
"We have a small number of old students, and we did not notice that they became active regarding the extension of the school term," Branislav Bayat, dean of the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade, told "Vreme". "As we prepare for the new cycle of faculty accreditation that should occur in March 2027, we have appointed our own commission, in order to see what we can improve in the work. We will not specifically deal with old students, but maybe they will also appear in the surveys that we are preparing in general for students in this process."
At the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Belgrade, there are only 28 old students, out of a total of 2.700, they told "Vreme" from this faculty. Eight of them have only one more exam and diploma, so they will have time to finish even if the deadline is not extended. Five have ten exams left, so a diploma may be out of reach for them. In this faculty, graduate students do not pay for the renewal of the year, but only for the application form each year.
Goran Roglić from the Faculty of Chemistry in Belgrade tells "Vreme" that "chemistry doesn't even have such students".
"They somehow integrated everything into the new system, so we don't have to deal with that," says Roglić. "Only the Ministry of Education deals with that, so only they can decide on it."
It is assumed that the number of those at more massive faculties, such as Law and Economics, each of which has more than 6.000 students, is significantly higher.
The Bologna process is a term that signifies the political intention of creating a European higher education area by creating standard academic titles, and in our country it is mostly related to the new system of education at faculties. It involves one-semester exams, many more pre-exam activities, collecting points before coming to the final exam. Simply, a completely different study system, which is much less campaign-oriented.
Students until 2004-2005. at some faculties they almost didn't even have to appear, the most important was the final exam, and some subjects were taken for four semesters, that is, for two years. Today's students can't even imagine that.
Contrary to popular belief, the Bologna Process is not an initiative of the European Union. 46 countries participate in it, which is far more than the number of EU members. Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Georgia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Russia and Ukraine have also signed the Bologna Declaration since 1999.
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A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
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