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Ajouter un commentaireOn 19 June 1999, the 29 European Ministers for Education gathered in the Italian university city of Bologna in order to sign the Bologna Declaration with the aim to create a uniform Higher Education Area. Since cooperation also reaches outside the EU, besides the EU Member States, 18 additional European countries have decided to follow suit. This reorganisation stemmed from the European Ministers of Education’s ambition to give more transparency to university degrees on an international level, to improve the quality of education and the courses on offer, to make it possible for students to graduate more quickly and to increase students’ mobility.
The biggest and most visible change brought forward by the Bologna Accord was probably the implementation of the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Additionally, a standardised evaluation system, the so-called European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), was introduced. This system enables the comparability and accreditation of courses taken by students in European universities.
Organisation and legal basis
In order to verify whether the aims that were agreed upon were indeed achieved, it was decided to evaluate the results at a conference taking place every two years. This conference constitutes the most important ‘advisory board’ for cooperation ; besides the Member States and the EU, various observing organisations are participating. The first conference post Bologna Process took place in May 2001 in Prague, the second in Berlin in 2003, the third in Bergen in May 2005, and in May 2007 the participating states met in London. The last conference will take place in Leuven. During this last conference, a decision will be taken on further proceedings with respect to the transition from the Bologna Process to the European Higher Education Area for 2010 and the following years.
Between each conference the “Bologna-Follow-up-Group” coordinates national and international activities. This group is composed of representatives of national governments, with the EU President of the Council sitting as chairman. In Germany, the universities and the Federal States are responsible for achieving the aims of the Bologna Process.
- Europe-wide studies : Member states taking part of the Bologna Process (2005)
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The initial number of 29 signatory states to the Bologna Declaration in 1999, has increased to 46.
Although the EU – with the Commission being a full member of the process - and the UNESCO are in favour of this cooperation, they do not represent the chief political institutions. The Bologna Process, therefore, has no institutional basis and is only promoted by the conferences of the European Ministers for Education.
Pro and contra Bologna
Despite the tempting prospect of continuing one’s studies abroad and to convert marks without difficulties, resistance against Bologna is still considerable, and not only in Germany. There, criticism comes from university representatives and also from students. They complain about the “short” duration of the Bachelor’s degree lasting 6 semesters (3 years). They fear that many employers will not consider the Bachelor’s degree as a suitable grounding for a profession and that the Master’s degree will be automatically expected to be followed. In this case, the duration of studies would be longer, if 4 semesters for the Master’s degree are added to the 6 semesters. For the former so-called “Diplom” and “Magister” degrees in Germany the standard period of study was 9 semesters.
In the Süddeutsche Zeitung (Southern Germany daily newspaper) in July 2007, the words “End of a Way of Life“ hit the headlines and claimed “a breath-taking downfall of German universities”. In particular, there is the fear that studies will become competitive for short–term studies, for financial reasons and for the control of credit points and their criteria for comparison. Moreover those who do not know at the age of 20 what aim their studies are supposed to have fear that they will fail. The proponents, however, promise increased mobility, more internationality and a better position for competition for students. Other than the German Magister or the German Diplom, Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees are well-known abroad. Additional positive results of the Bologna system claim to be : younger graduates, a higher degree of flexibility of the students and alumni and a reorganisation of the contents of the curricula. Last but not least, facilitated intercultural experiences made during their studies contribute to a better understanding among young Europeans.
Necessity to adapt
Despite these discussions over the advantages and disadvantages of the Bologna-Process, it is a fact that the reform is already taking place. German universities are currently offering more than 5.660 Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees (offers in summer 2007 by state universities and universities accredited by the state in Germany, as of 1 March 2007). This means that 48% of all degrees in German universities are Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
With all these fears of a possible failure of the German university system, there is no doubt that the university systems in Europe have to come within reach of eachother. The completion of the EU domestic market and the European job market require degrees that are accepted on a European level. The majority of students is, according to a poll of the university information system, in favour of the Bachelor’s and Master’s system and an introduction of a unified performance system. In times in which it is increasingly required that students study abroad and more and more young graduates work and live abroad, Germans would be wrong to deny the reality of Europeanisation and globalisation on the job market. For the reform to be successful, the responsibility for the Bachelor’s and Master’s system should be accepted, instead of solely casting a worried look at the insufficiencies of the European neighbour states’ systems.
Before this can be done, a considerably important deficiency should be eliminated : Since there is no legal basis to the Bologna Declaration, there exists no legal obligation for the participating government body who is acting within the participating country, to put into action the aims which were agreed in Bologna or the following conferences, neither a legal obligation among the participating states. Even though the EU plays a subordinate role in the Bologna Process, it should advocate the establishment of a solid legal ground for the presumably most important European university reform of our times.
Source : (map) http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/studiu...
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BOLOGNA-PROZESS : Brauchen wir eine europäische Hochschulpolitik ?
Il Processo di Bologna : una politica universitaria europea ?
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