ARGUMENT AGAINST BOLOGNA
Two years after signing the Bologna Declaration and three years after the Sorbone Declaration, European Ministers in charge of Higher Education, representing 32 signatories, met in Prague in order to review the progress achieved and to set directions and priorities for the coming years of the process. Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the objective of establishing the European Higher Education Area by 2010.
Ministers reaffirmed that efforts to promote mobility must be continued to enable students, teachers, researchers and administrative staff to benefit from the richness of the European Higher Education Area including its democratic values, diversity of cultures and languages and the diversity of the Higher education systems.
As the Bologna declaration sets out, Ministers asserted that building the European Higher Education Area is a condition for enhancing the attractiveness and competitiveness of higher education institutions in Europe. They supported the idea that higher education should be considered a public good and is and will remain a public responsibility, and that students are full members of the higher education community. From this point of view, Ministers commented on the further process as follows:
1. ADOPTION OF A SYSTEM OF EASILY READABLE AND COMPARABLE DEGREES.
Ministers strongly encouraged universities and other higher education institutions to take full advantage of existing national legislation and European tools aimed at facilitating academic and professional recognition of course units, degrees and other awards, so that citizens can effectively use their qualifications, competencies and skill throughout The European Higher Education Area.
2. ADOPTION OF A SYSTEM ESSENTIALLY BASED ON TWO MAIN CYCLES
Ministers noted with satisfaction that the objective of a degree structure based on two main cycles, articulating higher education in undergraduate and graduate studies, has been discussed. Some countries have already adopted this structure and several others are considering it with great interest. Programmes leading to degree should have different orientations and various profiles in order to accommodate a diversity of individual, academic and labour market needs.
3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A SYSTEM OF CREDITS
Ministers emphasized that, for a grater flexibility in learning and qualification processes, the adoption of common cornerstones of qualifications, supported by a credit system such as the ECTS( European credit transfer system) or ECTS- compatible, providing both transferability and accumulation functions, is necessary.
4. PROMOTION OF MOBILITY
They confirmed their commitment to pursue the removal of all obstacles to the free movement of students, teachers, researchers and administrative staff and emphasized the social dimension of mobility.
5. PROMOTION OF THE EUROPEAN DIMENSIONS IN HIGHER EDUCATION-
Ministers called upon the higher education system to increase the development of modules, courses and curricula at all levels with “European content”, orientation and organization.
QUALITY TRIANGLE
