Speaking to the press after the meeting, Frans van Vught, a member of the EUA Board, said that they gained a good impression of the reforms being undertaken in Croatia with regard to the Bologna Process.
We have not come as inspectors, but as experts wishing to help you overcome more easily great obstacles that emerge in the course of such comprehensive changes, said van Vught, former rector of the University of Twente in the Netherlands.
He was accompanied by Norwegian Professor Tove Bull, former rector of the University of Troms, EUA Deputy Secretary-General David Crosier, and Katja Kamsek of the National Unions of Students in Europe (ESIB).
The EUA delegation said that the fact that the university system was fragmented into faculties reduced the ability of the academic community to adapt.
Education quality is one of the most important issues and should be gradually raised to the European level, van Vught said.
Asked if Croatia was late in implementing the Bologna Process, van Vught said that it was not, but that no time should be lost.
He noted that a university was a leading place in creating a society based on knowledge and that reforms should therefore be implemented promptly and effectively.
The EUA delegation will also meet representatives of other universities, institutions of higher education and students.
The evaluation of Zagreb University is important for the introduction, harmonisation and implementation of university curricula in accordance with the Bologna Process and consequently for the integration of the University into the European higher education system.
The EUA delegation will evaluate the implementation of the Bologna scheme at the national level, harmonisation of the University curriculum, the personnel structure of the University, and financial support for new programmes of study.