 The Bologna Declaration stated that in order to establish the European Higher Education Area, work should be started on (among other things): Easily readable and comparable degrees, also through the implementation of the Diploma Supplement;Adoption of a system; Essentially based on two main cycles: undergraduate and graduate levels in all countries; Establishment of a system of credits – such as in the ECTS system – as a proper means of promoting the most widespread student mobility. In the discussions between the conferences in Prague and Berlin, a need to describe degrees and qualifications more precisely, in terms of more specific requirements that workload, became apparent. Some Higher Education systems, in Denmark and the British Isles in particular, had developed such systems of descriptions. These systems are referred to as Qualifications Frameworks and a Bologna Seminar on the issue was organised in Copenhagen, Denmark, in spring 2003.
An example: The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework
Dr Andrew Cubie, chairman of the Joint Advisory Committee of the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework, explains the purpose of that framework like this:
The approach taken in Scotland is about supporting learners. By this I mean learners of all ages and stages and we are seeking to create what we term "a national vocabulary of qualifications". We are trying to create a road map which is easily navigated by learners and which intigrates qualifications and learning opportunities so that a learner can understand the relevance of what he or she may be undertaking. This is very clearly not just about the opportunities of Higher Education and what may lie beyond that. It was for that reason that I stressed in my lecture that level 1 of our Framework is designed to assist people who have severe or profound learning difficulty, whilst level 12 is a taught PHD.
By extension our vigorous engagement in relation to the development of a European Framework is to ensure that these concepts are part of the principals in which any European Framework is constructed.
ESU's opinion on the matter
ESU broadly welcomes the idea of developing national qualifications frameworks as well as a European qualifications framework in the course of the Bologna Process. The biggest advantage that ESU sees at the moment is the support such frameworks can provide towards a system that is based on learning outcomes and the implied shift from a teaching based system to a learning based system. ESU does not regard qualifications frameworks as the only means to achieve this shift of paradigms but also considers other tools such as ECTS as tools to achieve that end. However, ESU considers the use of learning outcomes in qualifications frameworks as a condition sine qua non for their development and implementation. It is essential that learning outcomes are set in such a way that they reflect all purposes of education. Related Documents Links Contact
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