Skopje, 9 October 2024 (MIA) - The digitization of higher education is, unfortunately, a bit overdue, but it will be a priority in the future in order to deliver better services to the students and modernize lectures, Minister of Education and Science Vesna Janevska told journalists ahead of the beginning of a conference on the digitization of higher education on Wednesday held at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies in Skopje.

The Minister said the Government is committed to the digital transformation, which she assessed as “essential”.

“The Government even established a Ministry of Digital Transformation because this is one of the priorities. All students will receive vouchers allowing them to access the new technology. These meetings are exceptionally useful, and the Ministry will be a partner to those who want to be a part of the positive changes in the country,” Janevska underlined.

She said the degree of digitization differs between the universities and faculties, noting that the University of Shtip is in an advanced stage.

Blendi Hodai from the Forum for Educational Change said digitization should not be a luxury, but a necessity for the students.

“The digitization of state universities should not be a luxury but a necessity for all students, so they avoid queues for bureaucratic affairs. This can be done with just one click everywhere in the world. This event will contribute to the identification of all problems that the universities are facing, a document will be drafted, and it will request an acceleration of the process for the digitization of state universities. Students have a lot of problems, waiting in lines should not be one of them,” Hodai stressed.

The conference is organized by the Forum for Educational Change, the Institute for Good Governance and Euro-Atlantic Prespectives and the Youth Empowerment Association.

“The event aims to bring together the rectors of all state universities, representatives from the Committee on Education and Science at the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia, MPs from the Young MPs Club, as well as other relevant parties in order to assess the challenges faced by the process of digitization at the state universities and develop concrete recommendations for its acceleration,” organizers said. 

Photo: MIA