The Minister of Science and Education, Radovan Fuchs, has commented on the rejection of the Gender studies programme by the Ministry of Science and Education.

The Gender studies programme at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Zagreb has been rejected by the Ministry of Science, Education and Youth. According to the response from the Rectorate of the University of Zagreb, which is available to the daily newspaper Vecernji list, it is almost certain that the programme will not be able to start in the autumn.

Minister Fuchs explained that the Gender studies programme had initiated the prescribed procedure:

“They have not received a rejection, this must be made clear. The initiation of a new degree programme begins with the faculty; after the academic council of the faculty has given its approval, the procedure is passed on to the university. Under the old law, the process would end there, with the university sending a notification to the ministry to put the programme on the list. Under the new law, higher education institutions are on an equal footing. Public universities also need quality assurance of the study programme by a public body,” emphasised the Minister.

Procedural error

He added that the fate of the Gender studies programme is as prescribed by law: “The Agency for Science and Higher Education did not received the application from the University of Zagreb,” said the minister.

“The Ministry’s response will be sent back to the university shortly, but it has been informed of a procedural error and advised to submit the accreditation application to the Agency for Science and Higher Education. I can neither prohibit nor reject,” Fuchs explained.

The opposition claims that this is a political decision: “The opposition is making noise as usual. We are not serving anyone, we are following the legal procedure,” said the minister.

He added that the Gender studies programme had not received a rejection, but that the application had been sent to the wrong address.