Higher education
Admission to higher education institutions
Some of the complaints received regarding admission to higher education institutions were related to the admission criteria specified by higher education institutions. In such cases complainants were informed that according to the Act on Higher Education, a higher education institution is entitled to specify the admission criteria. The only restriction is that examination requirements are to be disclosed publicly at least 2 years prior to the year that applications are received. Other conditions have to be disclosed at least one year before introduction, in the Guide of Higher Education. (VI/269/2000. VI/517/2000.)
Many of the complaints received in the summer were submitted by examinees complaining about negative decisions on their entrance examinations and/or about the implementation of the admission procedure. Decision on the selection and admission of students is a key component of the autonomy of higher education institutions. Therefore, the Office cannot inspect the details of decisions made by institutions, in regards to admissions and the evaluation of the entrance criteria.
Act No. LXXX of 1993 on Higher Education
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Some examinees complained that in reviewing their tests, their answers were different from the expected solutions but nonetheless they thought that their answers should have been accepted as correct. Some complainants asked the Office to review their tests and to correct the results of the reviews of their tests accordingly. In line with the above, such requests were turned down. (VI/377/2000. VI/393/2000.)
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However, higher education institutions are also bound by the provisions of the Higher Education Act, the Government Decree on the General Rules of the Admission Procedures of Higher Education Institutions and the admission rules of the individual institutions. Our Office established its scope of competence in cases where suspicion of the violation of such statutory rules arose.
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The head of a higher education institution sent the following letter to examinees. 'The score assigned to your test, the criteria of evaluation and the solutions to the questions will be displayed on the notice board of the college from July 7 th, 2000. You may see your test on request and if you wish to do so, you must submit your remarks in writing to the relevant department within 24 hours after such viewing.' The admission procedure as outlined in the letter to the examinees was found to be violating several rules.
According to the above mentioned government decree, an examinee is entitled to see the evaluation of his test before the decision is made on admission or rejection. The date and place of the inspection of tests has to be specified by the institution concerned. This is to be forwarded to the examinees. The institution violated the rules of the decree by failing to specify and by failing to inform examinees of the place and date of inspection of the tests.
Pursuant to the decree, an examinee may ask in writing the head of the institution or faculty to review any marking and evaluation errors identified by the examinee before the end of the second working day following the student's inspection of his test. The institution violated the rule by providing only 24 hours for the examinee to notify the appropriate organ.
We established that by infringing the admission procedure, the institution denied the examinee the right of inspection of his test and consequently from the possibility to seek for legal redress. Therefore, the Office initiated a recommendation that allowed a complainant to see his test and to be provided with a possibility to review the error in the evaluation and scoring of the test. Furthermore, we recommended that the admission procedure be performed in accordance with the decree in the future and that further the admission regulations of the institution should also be reviewed. The higher education institution accepted our initiative. (VI/380/2000.) |
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