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Bachelor’s/Master’s - Europe is working on the harmonisation of its higher education
The Bologna Process is the most comprehensive higher education reform in recent years. It aims to create a European Higher Education Area by 2010, with a two-tier study system incorporating bachelor’s and master’s courses and comparable degrees throughout Europe.
The Bologna Process not only calls for the standardisation of degrees but also of the evaluation system. All credits in the course descriptions are calculated by the ECTS system (European Credit Transfer System), a standard procedure that serves to guarantee academic recognition of studies done abroad. The introduction of ECTS credits and the division of the courses into modules makes them more flexible and more transparent. ECTS is a quantitative measure of the entire workload of a student. One credit represents a workload of 25 to 30 hours.
For universities, the new system represents a change of perspective. The main focus is no longer on the work of the lecturers (= number of semester hours), but on the workload of the students. The reform affects the course structure and content, organisational procedures at universities, administrative procedures and decisions that the students make.
For companies, the change to bachelor and master’s degrees means that they have to deal with an even greater range of degrees and qualification steps. Companies will have to create posts and offer further training in line with the courses, in particular for bachelor’s degree graduates.
There has already been initial positive feedback in terms of study time. For example, the University Rectors Conference has found that the average length of study of bachelor’s degree graduates amounts to 6.9 semesters. In the previous Diplom courses, students required about 1.5 extra semesters to complete their studies. “This is very positive. It shows that the new study structure really helps students to finish their studies in a more timely manner,” said Prof. Dr. Margret Wintermantel, President of the University Rectors Conference, speaking in Bonn at the beginning of April. She also appealed to the government saying that the Bologna reform will only be successful if universities have enough staff to implement and manage the new requirements. As the new courses are much more student-centred, more staff are required to comply with the more intensive supervision that is required.
Comment
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Comment by Jeffrey V. on September 13, 2008 at 7:32am - Thanks for insight. In the US, I am hearing that this is innovation, progress, reformation and streamlining ( I can read lower standards in that) but it is very difficult to understand the true nature of the effect.
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Comment by NaTasha Shastan Bertrand on September 13, 2008 at 12:24am -
Very much against.
This is blowing the French system apart, from most people's perspective. Here, it is impossible to get much above minimum wage if you do not have a university degree. Along with the changes you mention above, France has "let go" of a high percentage of professors and teachers, plus made it more difficult to get in to the universities. People see all their plans, and plans for their children, being swept away with little positive in return. The future is very uncertain and frightening to them. Also, the French have become accustomed to having a very good education system, mostly payed for with taxes. They see these changes as dragging down the high standards to something substandard, without lowering the taxes that pay for it.
To give a little perspective, if I was still living in North America, I would not be able to pay for an education for my daughter that matched what the public schools here can give her, even though our family income is very high. There are few schools in North America that provide an equally high standard. The French are not happy about the prospect of losing that quality.
At least, that's what's going on in Grenoble.
NSB
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Comment by Jeffrey V. on September 12, 2008 at 9:26am
- Can you explain what the basis of the student protests are? Are they for or against the changes?
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Comment by NaTasha Shastan Bertrand on September 12, 2008 at 2:07am
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There have been HUGE student protests in France over this. Last May was dramatic, and full of tear gas in Grenoble, where I live. Parents, teachers, graduates and much of the community were joining the students. Even children were out on their own, marching in protest. The riot squads finally stopped and left after the residents on their balconies started yelling at them that they were making this much worse, that they were the problem not the protesters.
This is not a smooth process, there is a lot of resistance and a tremendous amount of anger and fear over the changes and what they will bring about for the future.
The end result may be very good. Little has been done in France to sell the idea of the process, nor the positive results to the public.
Thanks for posting this,
NSB
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