Zagreb University and Students Against Privileged Admission

20 July 2006

The Zagreb University Senate decided to seek Constitutional Court�s opinion on the legality of Article 53 from the Law on Rights of Croatian Homeland War Veterans and their Families, which states that veterans and their offspring, as well as children of victims of war, have the right to direct admission in secondary and higher education schools, under the condition that they have passed the minimal points required in admission exams and comply to requirements of the abilities test.

It means, practically, that those applicants, being exempt from competition, have significant advantage compared to all the other candidates, which can be seen as unjust discrimination. Ultimately, this provision has direct impact on admission policies themselves, providing for an opportunity to enroll much greater number of students than the number foreseen in the university quotas.

Vjekoslav Jerolimov, acting Pro-Rector for Education Matters, report the media, says that the initiative to change the Law is based on the principle of autonomy of the University and the general principle that all candidates should have equal rights during enrollment.

The Senate announces that the University shall comply, until the ruling of the Constitutional Court, to the existing legal provisions, which means that no candidate to which such provisions apply will be refused from admission.

Another initiative on the privileged university admission of children of war veterans was started by Jednaki smo (We�re All Equal) student initiative. Jednaki smo started a petition against the existing legislation at several Croatian universities and schools. The Petition was signed by more than 2,500 people.