Meeting of President of the Republic of Srpska with Rectors of public universities: 81 teaching assistant to be employed

On 5 September 2018, Mr Milorad Dodik, President of the Republic of Srpska, met with Prof. Radoslav Gajanin, PhD, and Prof. Stevo Pasalic, PhD, Rectors of the Universities of Banja Luka and Istocno Sarajevo respectively.

Following the meeting, President Dodik announced that 81 teaching assistant was going to be employed at these institutions, 54 of them at the University of Banja Luka and 27 at the University of Istocno Sarajevo.

‘In order to meet financial requirements for the purpose of securing gross salaries for this population, it is necessary to provide BAM 300,000 in the current fiscal year, primarily for the University of Banja Luka, and BAM 2.2 million in the following’, added President Dodik, saying that this was in line with the previous agreement concerning keeping the best students at public universities and providing them with an opportunity of scientific and scholarly work.

Furthermore, President Dodik invited those students from the Republic of Srpska studying at prestigious universities abroad to send their applications as well, pointing out that their qualifications and grades were going to be valued on an equal basis at the forthcoming public invitations.

He reminded the present of the fact that there was a great number of visiting professors at these universities, adding that employing new people was the only way to secure the necessary staff.

‘There is going to be an increased number of teaching assistants at the beginning of a new academic year, which implies new employment in the summer next year’, said President Dodik, expressing his gratitude to both Rectors for the results achieved so far, adding that, among other things, the participants at the meeting discussed the issue of raising the quality of teaching at universities. 

Prof. Gajanin thanked President Dodik and the Government of the Republic of Srpska for the measures undertaken, stating that some of public invitations had already been announced in accordance with the needs of the University of Banja Luka.

‘Some of our best students have already been employed, 26 of them, and they are going to start working in full capacity in October this year, with 28 more in the process of ongoing public invitation procedures. The reports of respective commissions should be written by the end of September, which concludes the aforementioned list of 54 new teaching assistants to be employed at this institution’, said Prof. Gajanin, confirming the same employment policy for the following academic year. He also said that this would mean fewer visiting professors, resulting in less funds from the Budget of the Republic of Srpska for these purposes.

Prof. Pasalic pointed out the importance of such measures for enhancing the staff structure, saying that he hoped that all of the planned 27 teaching assistants would be employed by the beginning of a new academic year, adding that the estimates in this respect for the following year were 40 new people, as far as the University of Istocno Sarajevo was concerned.

‘Best students are some of the most valuable assets at universities worldwide, and we must struggle to keep them in the Republic of Srpska’, concluded Prof. Pasalic.

Bigger salaries in higher education  

Following the meeting with Rectors of public universities, Mr Milorad Dodik, President of the Republic of Srpska, said that those employed at higher education institutions in the Republic of Srpska could expect bigger salaries, BAM 120 on average, which, on top of the recent raise of BAM 30, makes it the total of BAM 150 of salary raise in that sector.

‘Thus, we are sending a message that we are doing everything to keep people in the Republic of Srpska and that we are ready to improve their working and living conditions’, said President Dodik.

Video of the press conference to be downloaded here.