Criteria and Standards in the Higher Education – Basis for Quality Higher Education Staff in Republic of Macedonia

The aim of this paper is to present the current state of higher education in the Republic of Macedonia in this period of reforms in all spheres of society. In particular, the paper focuses on the criteria and standards for awarding teaching academic and assistant titles, organization of instruction, and quality of programs of study and curricula. The methodology of the research presented in this paper is based on analysis of legal documents defining the criteria for higher education activities, i.e. curricula, as well as the criteria to be met by the teaching academic staff, as one of the most important segments for quality education. The results of realized projects have been used as a benchmark for the subject and the aim of the paper. It should be pointed out that the higher education activity in Macedonia has been fully transformed in terms of duration of studies, degrees in higher education in terms of number of credits and conditions and manner of master and doctoral studies. All these changes were initiate by the need to change the conditions of study, technical support, materials as well as the quality of the teaching and scientific staff. The reforms in the higher education in form of amendments to the Law on Higher Education bodies responsible for the control of the higher education process also required changes and establishment of new bodies, now established as part of universities or cooperation between universities. In terms of raising the quality of teaching and scientific staff there have been some dilemmas that raised the quantity of the published research at the expense of its quality. In the Republic of Macedonia significant changes have been made for the sake of promoting the establishment of qualitative education, efficient curricula and improving the quality of teaching and academic staff. But research shows the necessity of further modernization of the curricula to increase students’ mobility, to accurately assess students’ workload in the process of studying and to insure objectivity in grading. Also, to facilitate student’s mobility, it is necessary to provide for institutional, national and international compatibility of the study and subject curriculums. Keywords: reform, education, teaching and research staff, quality, educational activities, Macedonia