Presentation to European Student Convention

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• Presentation to European Student Convention
• Ian McKenna
• Higher Education Section
• Department of Education and Science
• February 2004

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Prague Communiqué May 2001

• 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 skills throughout the European
  Higher Education area

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Berlin Communiqué May 2003

• Ministers encourage the member States to
  elaborate a framework of comparable and
  compatible qualifications for their higher
  education systems, which should seek to describe
  qualifications in terms of workload, level,
  learning outcomes, competences and profile. They
  also encourage to elaborate an overarching
  framework of qualifications for the European
  Higher Education Area.

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Overarching Factors

• All references pursued under the headings of
  comparability and compatibility of degrees
• Adoption of easily readable and comparable
  degrees
• Overall trend of movement to learner-focussed
  systems

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Tuning Project (Final Report 2003)

• Competences
• Agreed reference points, while allowing for
  flexibility in curriculum construction
• Generic capacity to learn, project design,
  management skills etc
• Subject specific skills and knowledge

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Tuning Project (Final Report 2003)

• Learning Outcomes
• Generic communicate knowledge, show
  understanding etc
• Subject specific good command of specialised
  fields, interpret new developments etc

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Frameworks the Vision

• Ireland, UK and Denmark have frameworks Bologna
  Follow-Up Group is 40 members, with host of
  higher education systems.
• Process must be inclusive, not only from
  perspective of member States of Bologna Process,
  but in terms of stakeholders.

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Frameworks the Vision

• Perception of one size fits all
• The protection of the rich diversity of the
  European education has been paramount .and the
  project in no way seeks to restrict the
  independence of academic and subject specialists,
  or damage local and national academic authority

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Frameworks the Vision

• Structure should not be bureaucratic
• Important that focus remains student, and that
  promoting mobility of learners and workers
  remains at the heart of frameworks