Today, 19 July 2019, the Minister of Education, Sport and Youth, Mrs. Besa Shahini held a working meeting at the office of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ASCAL). After being introduced to the work of the Agency in the first half of 2019 by ASCAL Director Mr. Elvin Gjevori, Mrs. Shahini was informed and particularly interested in the process of accreditation of study programs in public HEIs. These evaluation processes are being developed for the first time in the country. There are currently 124 study programs in public HEIs that are at various stages of the external evaluation process in the context of accreditation. This process, emphasized Mrs. Shahini is an important and positive development as external evaluation (accreditation) is one of the key instruments for measuring, maintaining and certifying quality in higher education. It also aims to increase the quality of teaching and learning in order to meet the requirements of students for higher quality in higher education. Mrs. Shahini asked the Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ASCAL) to further strengthen the external evaluation process in the context of accreditation of study programs in order to maintain and achieve national and international quality standards in higher education. She expressed MASR's full support for ASCAL's work.