Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia
Gayane Harutyunyan
Bologna Secretariat
Yerevan, Armenia May 8, 2013

EHEA
1998
• Sorbonne Declaration: mobility; two-cycle degree system, recognition, credits, diploma supplement
1999
• Bologna Declaration: European cooperation in QA, European dimension in HE
2001
• Prague Communiqué: social dimension, lifelong learning, attractiveness of EHEA
200
3
• Berlin Communiqué: doctoral programmes, links between higher education and research area
200
5
• Bergen Communiqué: ESG for QA, international cooperation on basis of sustainable development
2007
• London Communiqué: NQFs, creation of EQAR
200
9
• Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Communiqué: 20% mobility benchmark, national targets for SD, global dialogue through policy fora
2010
• Budapest-Vienna Declaration: Launching of EHEA

1999 - Conception: developing a vision of a common higher education space
2000-2005 -Policy developments: drafting the
framework of EHEA ‘the devil is in details’.
2006-2010- EHEA Architecture: Implementation of agreed principles and guidelines at national levels.
2011- Consolidation: Full and coherent implementation of main policies at national and institutional levels.

Evolutionary Progress
“A Europe of Knowledge is now widely recognised as an irreplaceable factor for social and human growth and as an indispensable component to consolidate and enrich the European citizenship, capable of giving its citizens the necessary competences to face the challenges of the new millennium, together with an awareness of shared values and belonging to a common social and cultural space ”. ( Bologna Declaration, 1999)
“The Bologna Declaration in 1999 set out a vision for 2010 of an internationally competitive and attractive European Higher Education Area where higher education institutions, supported by strongly committed staff, can fulfil their diverse missions in the knowledge society; and where students benefiting from mobility with smooth and fair recognition of their qualifications, can find the best suited educational pathways ”.
( Budapest-Vienna Declaration on the European Higher Education Area , 2010)

Bucharest Communiqué
Mobility Strategy 2020 for EHEA
Statement of the Third Policy Forum

Quality higher education for all
Enhancing graduates employability
Strengthening mobility for better learning

What are the major challenges according to the EHEA current state of affairs and the Bucharest ministerial commitments?
How to organise the follow-up work efficiently and oriented to the main goals of the Bucharest
Communiqué?
How should EHEA interact with other regions of the world and what are the main policy topics for future dialogues?

*Pathfinder Group on Automatic Recognition
*Steering Committee (E4 plus EQAR, EI,
BUSINESSEUROPE) on the ESG Revision
*Peer Learning and Review Initiative
*Financing and Governance of HE
Reporting on the
Implementati0n of the Bologna
Process WG
Social
Dimension and Lifelong
Learning WG
Structural
Reforms WG
BFUG
Ad-hoc WG on Joint degrees and programs
Ad-hoc WG on the
Revision of the ECTS
User's
Guide
Ad-hoc WG on the
Third Cycle
Network of
National
Corresponde nts (NQF)
Network on
Recognition of Prior
Learning
(RPL)
Mobility and
Internationalisation
WG
Network of
Experts on
Student Support in Europe
(NESSIE)

• QF-EHEA
• EQF for
Lifelong
Learning
• European
Standards and guidelines
QF QA
Transparency
Recognition
• Diploma supplement
• ECTS
User's
Guide
• NQF
• Lisbon
Recognition
Convention
• EARmanual

The EHEA Ministers have declared in Bucharest: the necessary competences to face the challenges of the new millennium, quality assurance and the implementation of qualifications frameworks, including the definition and evaluation of learning outcomes.”
“The Bologna Declaration in 1999 set out a vision for 2010 of an internationally competitive and attractive European Higher Education Area where higher education institutions, supported by strongly committed staff, can fulfil their diverse missions in the knowledge society; and where students benefiting from mobility with smooth and fair recognition of their qualifications, can find the best suited educational pathways ”.
( Budapest-Vienna Declaration on the European Higher Education Area , 2010)

Uneven pace of structural reforms across the EHEA
Some policy areas were launched later in the process and the reform of structures has not been completed (e.g. qualifications frameworks )
Some reforms have not been implemented for all parts of the higher education system, e.g. the three cycle degree structure, where some areas – such as medicine – have largely been unaffected by the reform;
One EHEA country still has to ratify the Lisbon Recognition Convention;
Absence in some countries of quality assurance agencies qualified for membership of ENQA and/ or EQAR
Uneven implementation of certain aspects of the ESG, e.g. the participation of student representatives and international members of QA team
If implementation of structural reforms is not based on a reasonably coherent understanding , variations in interpretation and implementation may hinder the existence of coherent higher education structures in EHEA.

Widening access to HE: coherence vs. variable geometry should be considered
Different approaches to quality within EHEA; creation of more trust and transparency through provision of adequate and relevant information. Quality in relation to the HE systems; shift from merely speaking about quality to demonstrating evidence-based quality of education systems
Promote quality in the third cycle, be flexible in the context of joint programmes and provision of joint-degrees.
Employability is a transversal issue and it is important to understand how it is interrelated to quality, learning outcomes and other transparency tools.
Qualification frameworks , learning outcomes and quality : facilitate recognition of qualifications and better fulfill the societal needs of making informed decisions.
Develop common understanding of existing QA procedures with countries and regions outside
EHEA.

Social Dimension and Lifelong Learning
“The student body entering and graduating from HEIs should reflect the diversity of Europe’s population.” (2012 Bucharest Communiqué
Focus Areas:
SD & LLL - widen overall access to quality HE; raise completion rates; increase the participation of underrepresented groups;
Employability - enhance employability, personal and professional development of graduates
)
Tools:
Mobilise the cooperation of relevant actors; support EHEA countries to adopt national
measures; support the development of common approaches of monitoring the national access
plans; promote the development and implementation of institution-level strategies; develop recommendations on implementing student-centred learning; guide and support the PL4SD
pilot project both its peer learning and reviewing aspects.

ECTS Users’ Guide should fully reflect the state of on-going work on learning outcomes and recognition of prior learning.
The development, understanding and practical use of learning outcomes is crucial to the success of ECTS, the Diploma
Supplement, recognition, qualifications frameworks and quality assurance.
Institutions should further link study credits with both learning outcomes and student workload, and to include the attainment of learning outcomes in assessment procedures.

“Taking into account the “Salzburg II recommendations” and the
Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training, we will explore how to promote quality, transparency, employability and mobility in the third cycle…” (Bucharest Communiqué 2012 )
Implementation of the Salzburg II Recommendations and the
Principles for Innovative Doctoral Training, mapping exercise based on the NQFs and links between and second and third cycles.
Proposals for improving quality and QA procedures and tools to increase transparency in the third cycle
Proposals to increase mobility, internationalisation and employability of the third cycle

Develop a proposal on revision of the ESG (E4 Group with EI, EQAR and
BUSINESSEUROPE) that will reflect the state of development on learning outcomes and recognition of prior learning.
Reinforce the role of EQAR by using the register better as a reference instrument:
Allow EQAR-registered quality assurance agencies to perform their activities across the EHEA, while complying with national requirements as a tool to improve the confidence; include more QA agencies from the outside EHEA on the basis of the European ESG.

Public responsibility for and of higher education within national and regional context.
Global Academic mobility: incentives and barriers, balances and imbalances.
Global and regional approaches to quality enhancement of higher education.
The contribution of HE to enhancing graduates employability.

Evolutionary Progress
“A Europe of Knowledge is now widely recognised as an irreplaceable factor for social and human growth and as an indispensable component to consolidate and enrich the European citizenship, capable of giving its citizens the necessary competences to face the challenges of the new millennium, together with an awareness of shared values and belonging to a common social and cultural space ”. ( Bologna Declaration, 1999)
“The Bologna Declaration in 1999 set out a vision for 2010 of an internationally competitive and attractive European Higher Education Area where higher education institutions, supported by strongly committed staff, can fulfil their diverse missions in the knowledge society; and where students benefiting from mobility with smooth and fair recognition of their qualifications, can find the best suited educational pathways ”.
( Budapest-Vienna Declaration on the European Higher Education Area , 2010)

Bologna Secretariat
E-mail: secretariat@ehea.info
www.ehea.info