Agency statement on the establishment of the civil association ‘SAQHA’

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The Slovak Accreditation Agency for Higher Education (hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agency’) has noted the questions of higher education institutions on the establishment of a civil association called the ‘Slovak Association for Quality of Higher Education – SAQHA’. The Agency declares that it distances itself from all activities of this civil association. The Agency has in no way requested or entrusted the association in question to interpret accreditation standards or other activities. The Agency also declares that it accepts no responsibility for the activities of the civic association.

The Agency, within the meaning of Act No 269/2018 Coll., is the only body and national authority that has the power to decide on the fulfilment of accreditation standards by higher education institutions. The Agency decides on the granting of accreditation on the basis of a resolution of its Executive Board, which bases its decision mainly on the assessment of the institution’s application by a specially established group of experts (reviewers).

The Agency sees the civil association as an independent interest-based initiative that has no legally imposed obligations or rights in the accreditation processes. The Agency would like to stress that there is no obligation for institutions to cooperate with or be a member of this organisation or any other organisation of a similar nature in order to obtain accreditation.