​Assistant Minister for Higher Education of the Republic of Srpska Jelena Starčević participated in the first meeting of the new ERASMUS+ project "Strengthening Capacities and Mechanisms for Enhancement of Quality Assurance System in Higher Education in BiH –SMEQA" which was held on February 27 and 28 at the University of Zenica. The University of Banja Luka and the Agency for Higher Education of the Republic of Srpska participate in the project, and the project coordinator is the University of Zenica. The budget of the project amounts to 936,000 euros, and in addition to the mentioned institutions, 16 other institutions from BiH and the European Union and one associated partner participate in the project.  The goal of the project is to establish mechanisms for improving the quality of higher education in BiH through the understanding of different European approaches in the accreditation of study programmes. Participants in the project, alongside with partners from Slovenia and Croatia, during the three years of the project, will work on developing a model of accreditation of study programs in BiH, establishing a mechanism for improving the quality assurance system in higher education, strengthening human capacities, improving cooperation between institutions and institutions participating in the process accreditation, development of an education plan for experts who carry out the accreditation process, etc. Special emphasis will be placed on strengthening higher education institutions to develop internal procedures for quality assurance.