After a suspension period, the Ministry of Higher Education announces the imminent resumption of doctoral thesis defenses and Habilitation to Direct Research (HDR) proceedings. This return before examination panels comes with a comprehensive regulatory reform aimed at sustainably enhancing the quality and credibility of university degrees. This is the long-awaited outcome for the academic community.
Following the suspension, doctoral thesis defenses and HDR proceedings will resume shortly. This decision was made during the expanded Conference of University Presidents held recently in Fiadanana. This resumption is part of a broad reorganization effort to improve diploma quality, marked by the publication and official registration of new regulatory texts.
To oversee this return before examination panels, the ministry is implementing a decree establishing the Reference Council for Doctoral Training (CRFD). This new strategic body will have the important task of supervising and evaluating the quality of doctoral schools and the degrees they award.
To ensure excellence from the restart, new provisions apply immediately to all current candidates in preparation. University authorities are granting a six-month grace period to all stakeholders to fully adapt their work and structures to these new decrees.
Transparency. The recent session of the expanded Conference of University Presidents also resolved several pressing higher education issues organized around three strategic axes. The question of transparency and rigor was first raised regarding scholarship management. The ministry firmly reminded all institutional heads of their obligation to submit rigorously verified student lists, emphasizing that recurring anomalies in received files remain the main cause of processing delays.
On the official examinations front, preparations for the next baccalaureate session are accelerating in line with Prime Minister directives. Central services are currently finalizing exam subjects and an unprecedented procedural guide to clarify each actor's responsibilities. To modernize operations, the ministry also approved the allocation of computer equipment to requesting universities.
Finally, the Conference reviewed the payment of supplementary hours for the 2021-2022 academic year. Many institutions still need to correct or complete their supporting documents, with central administration reiterating that no fund release will be approved without absolute compliance with required files.