The director of the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education, ENQA, Anna Gover, has written to the director of the Kosovo Accreditation Agency, KAA, Naim Gashi , confirming the KAA’s application to become an “affiliate” member.

“I am pleased to inform you that at the meeting of September 20, 2022, the Board of ENQA decided to give KAA the status of ‘affiliate’ member in ENQA,” the October 3 letter said.

The announcement to Gashi emphasized that from that day on, the KAA may use the ENQA logo in its decisions and communications, both within Kosovo but also in international communication.

“KAA considers that this is an extraordinary achievement that will benefit students, graduates, the academic community and the state of Kosovo in general. Today’s decision is a credible guarantee for quality in higher education and facilitates the process of recognition of students and graduates’ diplomas in European countries, the KAA stated.

According to KAA, this decision will facilitate the exchange of students and professors with European countries and beyond.

The news was also welcomed by the Minister of Education, Arbërie Nagavci. “This is an extraordinary achievement that will benefit students, graduates and the academic community”, Nagavci declared.

The minister emphasized that the KAA is now just a step away from becoming a full member of the ENQA.

In 2018, the KAA was expelled from The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education, EQAR, due to the dismissal of the board of agency, done at the request of the then Prime Minister, Ramush Haradinaj.

This organization considered that the KAA had lost the opportunity to act independently after the PM’s political intervention.

After April 19, 2018, the status of the KAA within ENQA was demoted from a member with full rights to a “member under consideration”. On October 2, 2019, the ENQA terminated KAA’s membership.

The reasons for this included the lack of broad consensus in higher education in Kosovo as well as the lack of human and financial resources to carry out the activities of the KAA.

In June 2022, the president of EQAR, Karl Dittrich, said that Kosovo has made progress, and would soon be able to return to ENQA and EQAR.