a.Quality Assurance.

b.Mobility.

c.Lifelong Learning.

d.The Bologna Process in the European community.

e.Employability.

f.Joint Degrees.

g.A qualification framework of three cycles.

h.Recognition of Qualifications.

i.The social dimension and equal opportunities.

1. _____ The aim of the Bologna Process¹ is to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA)² that promotes mobility; attracts students and staff from Europe as well as from other parts of the world. It aims to do this by facilitating greater comparability and compatibility between the diverse higher education systems and institutions across Europe and by enhancing their quality.

Starting from an agreement at European level (the 1999 Bologna Declaration), the Bologna Process has initiated sweeping reforms in higher education across Europe at system and institutional level.

An important characteristic of the Bologna Process is the close cooperation between governments, higher education institutions, students, staff, employers and quality assurance agencies, supported by the relevant international organizations.

2 ______The Bologna Process is probably the best known for its objective to structure higher education along three cycles (Bachelor-Master-PhD). In 2005, Ministers adopted Framework for Qualifications³ in the European Higher Education Area comprising three cycles. National Framework of Qualifications⁴describes the qualifications of an education system and how they interlink. They describe what learners should know, understand, and be able to do on the basis of a given qualification, as well as how learners can move from one qualification to another within a system.

Access to the second cycle (Master) requires successful completion of the first cycle studies (Bachelor), lasting a minimum of three years. The degree awarded after the first cycle should also be relevant to the European labour market as an appropriate level of qualification. Doctoral studies – generally corresponding to a workload of 3–4 years full time – was introduced to the Bologna Process as the third cycle by Ministers in 2003.

3._______ The Bologna Process has paved the way for increasingly innovative, cooperative, cross border study programmes and a growing number of joint degree programmes.

The following key features are usually associated with qualifications described as joint degrees: the programmes leading to them are developed or approved jointly by several institutions; periods of study and exams, passed at the partner institution(s), are recognised fully and automatically by all institutions involved; teaching staff from each participating institution devise the curriculum together, form joint admissions and examinations bodies and participate in mobility for teaching purposes; and students who have completed the full programme should obtain a degree which is fully recognised in all countries.

4. ______ Facilitating mobility is one of the main objectives of the creation of a European Higher Education Area and has become an essential part of European higher education culture. More than 5600 higher education institutions in Europe offer a great variety of degree programmes for domestic and international students. Europe provides a unique cultural experience in a dynamic, plurilingual and multinational environment with high-quality teaching and research for students and academic staff.

5. ______ The purpose of recognition is to make it possible for learners to use their qualifications in another educational system or country without losing the full value of those qualifications. Each country of the European Higher Education Area has a national information centre where students, academics, employers can obtain information about recognition.

Tools that facilitate the recognition of qualifications are the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS)⁵ and the Diploma Supplement. The ECTS balances a programme’s average workload with the competences to be achieved. The Diploma Supplement describes the qualification in an easily understandable way, relating it to the higher education system in which it was earned and to the overarching qualifications framework.

6. ______ In higher education, the term quality assurance refers to all the policies, ongoing review processes and actions designed to ensure that institutions, programmes and qualifications meet specified standards of education, scholarship and infrastructure. The Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area adopted by Ministers in 2005 and commonly referred to as European Standards and Guidelines (ESG)⁶ provide guidance on quality assurance to agencies and institutions.

The European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR)⁷ set up in 2008 lists those agencies which operate in accordance with the European Standards and Guidelines and the appropriate national legal provisions. The Register aims to increase confidence regarding quality assurance in higher education.

7. _____ Lifelong learning has been recognised as an essential element of the European Higher Education Area since 2001. It is inherent in all aspects of the Bologna Process and is furthered by: improving the recognition of prior learning; developing flexible learning paths, allowing learners, for instance, to alternate between work and study; and widening access to higher education.

8. _____ The European Higher Education Area aims at providing learners with equal opportunities in higher education, fostering social cohesion and maximising the potential of individuals in terms of their personal development and their contribution to a sustainable and democratic knowledge-based society.

9. _____ In the context of the Bologna Process, employability is defined as the ability to gain initial employment, to maintain employment, and to be able to move around within the labour market. Employability has been one of the main objectives of the Bologna Process from the very start. Each cycle of higher education should be relevant to the labour market. Further dialogue is needed between public and private employers, students, academics, higher education.