Time for Changes in Higher Education Institution Governance

The time for decisive action is now! The Foreign Investors' Council in Latvia with the support of Finanšu nozares asociācija, TechHub Riga, Startin.LV, AmCham Latvia, BritCham LV, Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Latvia and Norwegian Chamber of Commerce in Latvia calls for swift action in implementing a new governance model of higher education institutions.

FICIL highly appreciates the work of State President, Cabinet of Ministers, Ministry of Education and Science, as well as Saeima Education, Culture and Science Committee on improving the overall quality of higher education. FICIL supports the change proposed by the Ministry of Education and Science in the governance model of higher education institutions.

This is a significant moment, when all higher education sector stakeholders finally have to make a decision on change. FICIL calls for swift actions, to ensure mid-term and long-term results, because several transitions need to happen. There is a need for increased financing; however, the first step is a transition to a new governance model for higher education institutions (HEI), with a clear separation of decision-making and executive roles. In order to become a high value-added economy, higher education institutions need to be able to adapt to rising standards by raising the quality and competitiveness of education in order to achieve excellence. The excessive number of higher education institutions, the lack of funding, the fragmentation among academic staff and resources, as well as the low rating of Universities in Latvia  in international rankings are in no way consistent with our ambition to see Latvia as a centre of innovation and development. We encourage the government to implement a HEI governance model that has proven its effectiveness in practically all European countries and worldwide. It provides for external partner (i.e. entrepreneurs, alumni representatives, foreign experts) involvement in strategic decision-making at universities, and a clear separation of decision-making and executive functions in order to ensure accountability for the objectives set.

It is time for action.

Foreign Investors' Council in Latvia

Co-signed by Swedish, American, British, Norwegian Chambers of Commerce in Latvia, TechHub Riga, Startin.LV and Finance Latvia Association.