The Statutory Definition of Distance Learning
The legal basis for the compliance of an EdTech platform in higher education is Article 47-7 of the Law on Higher Education. Under this norm, distance learning means the conduct of the educational process in a distant or electronic form or through other means of communication. Distance learning is carried out in the form of synchronous or asynchronous communication — synchronous meaning an interaction where communication between the sender and the receiver of information takes place at the same time, and asynchronous an interaction where it does not.
Understanding this definition matters because it determines what kind of digital solution fits the statutory framework: a platform built on both real-time and deferred interaction is an equally legitimate format.
The Duty to Select the Platform and Interactivity
The law frames the platform as the institution's obligation: for the purpose of conducting distance learning, the higher education institution ensures the selection and proper use of a distance learning application or platform through which the educational process can be conducted interactively.
Two details are decisive here: selection and proper use are the institution's duty — responsibility for the technological choice therefore rests on it; and the statutory standard is „interactivity“ — the platform must enable the two-way conduct of the educational process, while one-way delivery of content does not satisfy this requirement.
The interactivity requirement also disciplines the procurement stage: when comparing platforms, the institution should assess not only the feature list but the proven ability to run seminars, assessments and feedback — the elements that constitute the educational process in the legal sense.
Accessibility — the Instruction and Video Guide
To ensure the accessibility of distance learning, the higher education institution develops an instruction or video guide for the use of the selected application or platform and ensures its familiarisation by students and staff.
For an EdTech provider this norm translates into a practical contractual issue: the product must be structured so that the instruction and video guide can genuinely be created and reach every user.
Assessment and the Boundaries of Permission
The law also regulates assessment: the list of components of higher education programmes within which distance learning will be permitted is approved by the minister upon the submission of the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement; the rules and conditions for conducting the educational process remotely and for assessing the results obtained are likewise approved by the minister.
The decision on permitting distance learning and on its period, as well as on the institution that must use distance learning to deliver higher education, is taken by the minister by an individual administrative-legal act — the remote format is thus not the institution's arbitrary choice.