ČTK |
12 March 2012
Prague, March 9 (CTK) – The prolongation of Accreditation for the Law Faculty of West Bohemian University (ZČU) by Education Ministr Josef Dobes (Public Affairs, VV) is illegal, Vladimira Dvořákova, head of the Accreditation Commission (AK ), said Friday.
Earlier Friday, Dobes extended the Accreditation for the Faculty of Law in Plzeň, west Bohemia, that was Originally to end over fraudulent studies this summer, until 2016.
Dobes told journalists his decision was based on legal Analyses.
Dvořákova said the AK would file a lawsuit against the decision.
Green Party (SZ) leader Ondrej Liska, who was education ministr in 2007-2009, Friday also Sued Dobes over suspected abuse of power.
„The ministr cannot make a decision that is contrary to the Verdict of the Accreditation Commission,“ Liska said.
The ZČU and the Law Faculty, on the other hand, welcomed Dobes ‚s decision.
ZČU Rector Ilona Mauritzova said Dobes made a responsible decision with respect to the students.
The Law Faculty ‚s dean Jan Pauly told CTK he considers the extension of the Accreditation „the victory of law and justice.“
MP Walter Bartos (Civic Democrats, ODS) said he believes Dobes ‚s decision was very bad because it was precedential.
„The ministr in fact says that a political body is more important than an expert body,“ Bartos told Česká Television (CT).
Dvořákova Ned that Dobes had already challenged twice its decisions on two private universities.
„With the act, the Education Ministry ‚s long-standing effort at weakening the Accreditation process has come to a head. The ministry wants to create conditions for its own, arbitrary decision-making,“ the AK said in its press release.
It said Dobes ‚s steps were illegal and in conflict with the existing practice and public interest.
At first, the POKUD proposed that the Accreditation be prolonged till the end of this October se that the Faculty ‚s 1800 students could complete their studies.
However, the ministry complied with a complaint by the school and asked the AK for a new position. The AK then recommended that the Accreditation should not be prolonged. As a result, the Faculty was to be closed by July.
However, Dobes now prolonged the Accreditation until 2016.
„There is no absorption capacity with which to provide an alternative solution for the students of the ZČU Faculty of Law,“ Dobes said.
referring to legal Analyses, Dobes said the second, negative position of the AK was invalid.
The AK said Dobes ‚decision would have a negative impact on both the students and the ministry.
Everyone will be able to challenge the degrees granted after July 2012, it said.
Dvořákova said schools that had been denied Accreditation were now expected to protest.
The AK has also Ned that the ministry did not follow its recommendation to limit the Accreditation for Jan Amos Komenský University Prague (UJAK) and did not Reagovat in the case of the Banking Institute.
In the latter case, the POKUD pointed to the dubious character of its educational process in Ukraine and Hungary.
Dvořákova said the ministry had protected both schools.
Daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) wrote Friday that UJAK was a machine producing millions of Crowns and university degrees that often went to celebrities.
„It is a mercy and a precedent that has had no analogy in the Česká Republika in the past 20 years,“ Anna putňový (TOP 09), head of the Chamber of Deputy school committee, has told CTK.
putňový said Dobes ‚s step amounted to absolute erosion of the tertiary education system because the AK was the only body that was to watch the quality of tertiary education.
The AK argued that the Faculty did not have the required staff, its academic and publication activity was minimal and it did not have enough grants.
The law Faculty in Plzeň became iNFAMOUS due to a Scandal about two years ago where the case of a teacher ‚s plagiarism surfaced. A check unveiled a number of cases when prominent students, including politicians, police officers and celebrities, completed their studies in an unusually short period without fulfilling all requirements and criteria.
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