Belgrade U Professor: University’s Shanghai Ranking Drop Not Dramatic

Belgrade University Rectorate (BetaPhoto/Milos Miskov)

According to Belgrade University School of Economics professor Milojko Arsic, the University’s lower annual Shanghai Ranking does not represent a “huge downslide” although the regime is insistently attempting to present it as such.

This year, the University in Belgrade was not ranked among the 500 best schools in the world, but was placed in the group comprising those ranked 501st to 600th.

Speaking for the latest edition of the Nedeljnik weekly, professor Arsic said that there are few areas where Serbia outmatches other central and eastern European countries and that, therefore, Belgrade U’s ranking is quite good considering the social circumstances in the country.

“There has been no dramatic drop in the ranking of the University in Belgrade, nor some huge downslide. Among schools ranked [501st] to 600th, [the University] is still among the best in central and eastern Europe. Only three Czech universities ranked higher, led by the Charles University in Prague, while our group includes only one other university from Hungary,” Arsic explained.

The professor maintained that the ruling echelon painting the situation as catastrophic is not based on facts but rather serves to pave the way for the regime possibly taking over management of the University – a development Arsic insists would be truly ruinous.