Only 2 years to 2010, when normally the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) must become a reality, tensions flare up in different European countries, especially the laggards.Like some students who leave all their work to the last minute, the night before the exam, some countries have waited until the last instant to implement the pan-European reforms. For them, the coming academic year is almost the night-before-the-exam.
Better known as the Bologna Process, EHEA is expected to unify and harmonize the higher education system among more than 40 European countries according to a set of jointly agreed principles.
Armenia is not a laggard, by definition, as it joined the Process as recently as 2005 but it hasn’t been able to apply most of the reforms (I will discuss this topic in a separate post). It is therefore normal that we’ll see many initiatives in the coming year, and the loaded program, in fact, will start right in September.
On Credit Transfer System
A conference entitled “Credit Transfer in Armenian Higher Education System: Present State, Trends and Challenges” will be held on 15 and 16 September 2008, at the State Engineering University of Armenia (SEUA-Polytechnic).
The conference is organized in the framework of Tempus project called “ECTS-based Credit Framework for Armenia” by a consortium of 4 universities and the Ministry of Education and Science (MES). The event is open to the public but prior registration is required. Registrations by 20 August at SEUA. (Unfortunately, the Tempus website carries no information on the event).
On Qualifications Frameworks
There is also a regional seminar on qualifications frameworks, a lesser known aspect of the Bologna Process (compared to the credit transfer system or the 3-cycle degree structure), that will take place on 8 and 9 September 2008, in Tsaghkadzor, near Yerevan.
Based on a clear description of learning outcomes, a qualifications framework is essentially a description of qualification levels and types. Once qualifications frameworks are established at national level, a rather tedious and complex work, they will make it easier to understand and compare the qualifications in different European countries. They will thus facilitate:
> Credit transfer at national and European level
> Student mobility at national and European level
> People (job seekers) mobility due to the recognition of qualifications
> Educational planning and evaluation at macro as well as institutional level
The issue of establishing national and European qualifications frameworks and linking them to other Bologna action lines were emphasized at 2005 Bergen Conference, and later confirmed and reinforced at 2007 London Conference.
Some Scandinavian countries such as Denmark had already produced their national qualification frameworks as early as 2003. So the attention of the coordinating bodies moved to countries which were slower. Regional conferences and seminars are one of the ways to facilitate the transfer of know-how and experience to these countries and to accelerate the reform process.
The Tsaghkadzor conference is one of such initiatives. It is organized by MES and funded by the Council of Europe which since 2006 strives to become one of the main actors in the higher education reform process in Europe.
The participating countries at the conference are the European members of the Commonwealth of Independent States: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. These are, at the same time, members of the Council of Europe. (Belarus is the only European CIS country that is neither member of the Council of Europe nor the Bologna Process). All these countries, except the Russian Federation, joined the Bologna process in 2005. Russia had joined in 2003.
The ministers or deputy ministers of education are expected to lead their respective delegations. The seminar is however open to the public. Faculty and students may attend subject to prior registration. MES has not however specified the registration deadline or procedure. . (There is no information on the event on the Council of Europe – Yerevan Office website).
