LEGAL ISSUES IN HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Since education, is the basic of any society, its legal regulation is also of special importance. In our society, there are three levels of education; the primary, secondary and tertiary. The focus of our work will be on legal issues of higher education. In our country, directly related to the changes that are made in the legal aspect on higher education, the government that is in power has influence. Thus, the changes that the law on higher education undergoes in the Republic of Northern Macedonia are actually brought by the government that holds power. Over the years, the law on higher education has undergone many changes. Sometimes, the legal rules of this law have been strengthened by becoming more strict and other times the same articles have been less strict, always the government adapting perhaps to their professionals who also support them. Therefore, analyzing the legal rules in general over the years, in this paper we will highlight the strengths and weaknesses of these rules. We will also highlight the fact that some legal rules should not be as they are, due to the fact that they leave room for manipulation in practice. All this, because, there are legal gaps which must be filled with fair legal rules. On the other hand, we will highlight the aspect of how much these legal rules are applied in higher education by higher education institutions and whether there is political pressure on how to apply the legal rules on those who apply them. And, finally we will bring our thoughts on what needs to be changed in terms of legal rules on higher education in our state, based on the practical aspect so far.