Macedonian Minister of Education and Science VesnaJanevskasaid in an interview with TV Sitel that the checks carried out by the commission at the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) showed various shortcomings – in some places the conditions for scientists who should work at the institute were not met, in some places there was no program for scientific research work at all, and there were also cases in which the institutes were located in inappropriate premises. Three to four institutes, after the controls began, closed themselves.
At universities, as Minister Janevska explained, the situation is slightly different – there are reports of inappropriate spending of funds from the state budget, reports of improper enrollment, forged diplomas, appointments to inappropriate titles.
“We have a report to the investigative authorities and the prosecutor’s office about a private higher education institution for falsifying a diploma. For example, a student passed 14 to 17 exams in one month, and at the same time studied undergraduate and postgraduate studies. That is not realistically possible. I have never heard of anyone in the world passing 14 exams in one month and being in both undergraduate and postgraduate studies,” said Minister Janevska.
