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ACA Newsletter nr 198 July 2002
On July 1st Denmark took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Spain. The Danish Presidency will last from 1 July until 31 December 2002. During the Danish Presidency one meeting of the Education and Youth Council will be held on 12.11.2002 in Brussels, Belgium. The meeting will be chaired by Ulla Tørnæs, Danish Minister of Education. On this occasion the DG Education and Culture published a press file with the examples of European education and culture projects in Denmark. http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/succes/dossiers/
Following Mr. Prodi’s announcement of the Commission’s overall priorities for 2003, Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Education and Culture, translated them into priority actions under her responsibility:
With the adoption of the report by Juan Ojeda Sanz (EPP-ED, Spain) on the extension of the trans-European cooperation scheme for higher education (Tempus III, 2000-2006) towards the MEDA partners, the European Parliament supports the text proposed by the Commission, and proposes a few amendments. The Commission indicated that it would take the spirit of the amendments into account during the implementation of the programme. http://www2.europarl.eu.int/omk/sipade2?PUBREF=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A5-2002
More than 1900 participants from 71 countries participated in the World Education Market (WEM), which took place in Lisbon from 21 to 24 May. Nikolaus van der Pas, European Commission, and Hans-Ulrich Maerki, president of IBM Europe-Africa-Middle-East gave the opening addresses. In his speech, Mr Van der Pas stressed the challenges of the knowledge-based society and Europe’s opening towards the world in the domain of education and culture. Hans Ulrich Maerki noted that distance learning now provided 43% of internal training at IBM. At the margin of the conference, 400 exhibitors from 36 European, American, African and Asian countries were present, amongst them the Commission’s stand of DG Education and Culture, presenting programmes and initiatives like e-Learning, the European Schoolnet, Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci, as well as international cooperation programmes such as Tempus, EU-USA, EU-Canada, EU-Australia and EU-Japan.
The European Commission has selected 178 new projects for funding under the framework of the YOUTH and EUROMED YOUTH programmes, with the aim of promoting intercultural dialogue, active citizenship and minority rights in the Mediterranean basin and in South Eastern Europe. They will offer young people possibilities for personal development and active participation in exchanges, voluntary service or other initiatives. The funding for the selected projects will be worth 4.2 million Euro. Many projects will go ahead in the co-operation with international organisations such as the United Nations.
The Conference of European Education Ministers took place in Bratislava from 16 to18 June and was organised jointly by the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, the European Commission and the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Slovakia, in the context of the Spanish EU Presidency. The Conference focused on European political cooperation on the future objectives of the continent’s education and training systems. The Conference follows on from earlier meetings in Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Bucharest and Riga organised as part of the pre-accession strategy and aimed at stepping up informal political dialogue among Ministers from the EU Member States and the candidate countries, as well as the EFTA/EEA countries and those of South-Eastern Europe. The European Parliament, the Council of the European Union, the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the OECD and UNESCO were also represented at the meeting. Two workshops were organised in the context of the Bratislava Conference, on the following topics: 1. Supporting quality in education: the Ministers agreed on the need to assess the quality of education systems through results, and on achieving the goal of ensuring everyone has access to education. In addition, education systems will need to be flexible so as to allow full development of individual abilities with a view to employment, and to enhance people’s individual aptitudes and social values; these objectives can be achieved via better planning and better teacher training. The European Education Ministers also decided that education quality systems should be implemented at local and national level so as to enable mutual understanding at European level. 2. Accessible and attractive learning: lifelong learning, a basic State responsibility, encompasses a broad spectrum of learning opportunities, which is why it should involve the social partners, families, civil society and citizens themselves. With this objective, the quality of lifelong learning needs to be established at national level, promoting the exchange of experience and good practice at European level. The Education Ministers emphasised that agreements and commitments between the various aforementioned sectors are fundamental for building bridges between formal, non-formal and informal learning, and for making lifelong learning attractive to everyone. The Ministers welcomed the success achieved thanks to the improved Graz process, the Task Force on Education and Youth of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe and its strategy with regard to future activities, which will help put the education and training objectives into practice, especially by establishing a process structured more towards medium and long-term prospects for cooperation between the EU Member States and the candidate countries. Lastly, the Ministers gave their firm backing to the idea of improving cooperation at European level and reaffirmed the importance of the European Conferences for the exchange of experience and information between those in charge of education policy.
Representatives of 29 European countries including Member States, future members of the EU and EEA countries, together with social partners, met in Brussels on 10-11 June to discuss how, through increased co-operation, to improve the quality and performance of vocational education and training in Europe. The conference, organised by the Directorate General for Education and Culture of the European Commission, saw agreement on a number of concrete initiatives. The aim is, by 2010, to enable citizens to use their qualifications and skills as a 'common currency' throughout Europe and enhance the overall status and reputation of vocational education and training. http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/education/bruges/index_en.html
Following the proposal to establish a European Research Area (ERA), formulated by Commissioner Philippe Busquin, the debate on implementation of this vision has moved on rapidly. One idea which has been suggested is that of the creation of European Research Council (ERC), which would provide support for high-quality, long-term, curiosity-driven research. In its Strategic Plan, 2002-2006, the European Science Foundation (ESF) has set itself the task of structuring and leading the debate on this key issue for the future of European science. To this end, it has appointed a High Level Expert Group, under the chairmanship of Sir Richard Sykes, Rector of Imperial College, London, to examine the pros and cons of the ERC concept and to produce a final report for publication early in 2003. At the same time, the incoming Danish EU Presidency (July to December 2002) has decided to promote a discussion meeting on the same topic on 7-8 October 2002.
On June 3rd the European Council of Ministers accepted the 6th Research master programme with a total budget of 17.5 billion Euro. This scholarship programme focuses on research fields such as astronautics, biotechnology and genetic engineering concerning the fight against diseases. The new master programme is implemented in order to promote the development of Europe into the most attractive research area worldwide. The European Heads of State and Government agreed already upon the creation of a common research area in Lisbon in March 2000. This is part of a comprehensive strategy, helping the European Union to become the most dynamic economic region worldwide and to neutralise the distance to the USA so far.
Last May, Germany and Italy agreed on the creation of a joint "Italo-German University Centre". Financed by central and regional governments in both countries, the institution will be administered by German ACA Member DAAD and the University of Trient. The "university centre" is not a (physical) higher education institution, as the name might suggest, but a funding mechanism for Italo-German higher education cooperation. It is intended to further intensify these relations, by offering support for joint programmes, particularly of the new bachelor/master structure, jointly supervised Ph.D.s, and joint graduate colleges (Graduiertenkollegs), predominantly in engineering and the natural sciences. It will also organise seminars and other encounters of Italian and German faculty. Those able to read German find more information in the link below. http://www.daad.de/magazin/presse/Pressenotizen_2002/1702.html
During the Autumn of 2001, the European Foundation for Management Development (efmd) conducted an interesting survey based on a sample of 86 European business school respondents. The aim of the study was to measure the degree of internationalisation among business schools and the impact this had on their educational programmes, but also to provide an overview based on the analysis of the student body, the teaching body, and the curriculum offered. The results of the survey show an impressive average of 20% of foreign students among the respondents. But in fact, half the institutions have less than 7% of them. The statistics for the type of programmes show that high internationalisation rates are mostly found in postgraduate degrees, especially MBAs. But here again, the averages are misleading as half of the executive MBAs have less than 5% overseas learners and 50% of the PhDs contain less than 21% of foreigners. Concerning the curricula offered, the study results show that Western Europe remains the first zone of expansion for all curricula. On the whole, the survey demonstrates that the more advanced the degree, the higher the degree of internationalisation. However, there is, even at postgraduate level, still a large division between programmes that aim to recruit participants from overseas and those that have only a handful of foreign students. Nevertheless, most of the institutions showed in the survey that they are looking at strategies to increase their international profile both in terms of participants and teachers. With more than 450 members, Efmd is recognized as the centre of excellence for management education and development in Europe and provides accreditation through EQUIS (European Quality Improvement System) assessment worldwide. http://www.efmd.be For any further information on the report, please contact Véronique Terrasse at efmd, terrasse.v@efmd.be.
Culture 2000 is a Community programme established for a period of 5 years (2000-2004), with a total budget of 167 million EUR. This financial instrument grants support for cultural co-operation projects in all artistic and cultural sectors (performing arts, visual and plastic arts, literature, heritage, cultural history, etc). The objectives of the programme are the promotion of a common cultural area characterised by both cultural diversity and a common cultural heritage. Culture 2000 looks to encourage creativity and mobility, public access to culture, the dissemination of art and culture, inter-cultural dialogue and knowledge of the history of the peoples of Europe. The deadline for applications is 15 October 2002 for annual projects and 31 October 2002 for multi-annual cooperation projects. http://www.europa.eu.int/comm/culture/eac/c2000condition_en.html
The first European report on quality indicators of lifelong learning is now available. The report examines the quality of lifelong learning in 35 European countries in four central areas: skills, competencies and attitudes, access and participation, resources for lifelong learning and strategies and systems. The report, produced by the Working Group on Quality Indicators of lifelong learning which is comprised of representatives from 35 countries, the OECD, UNESCO and the European Commission, shows that not all countries are well positioned for successful lifelong learning involving the whole population. Indicators used in the report are: literacy, numeracy, new skills for the learning society, learning-to-learn skills, active citizenship, cultural and social skills, access to lifelong learning, participation in lifelong learning, investment in lifelong learning, ICT in learning, strategies for lifelong learning, coherence of supply, guidance and counselling, accreditation and certification and quality assurance.
In the USA, Euro 288 billion ($265 billion) was spent on research and technological development (R&D) in 2000, against only Euro 164 billion in the EU. European Commissioner for Research Philippe Busquin presented the latest figures available in Brussels.
The European Commission will allocate Euro 1,580 billion to help combat the brain-drain of scientists from the EU to other parts of the world. Within its Sixth Research Framework Programme (FP6), the Commission is boosting the share of funds available for human resources by 50% up from Euro 1.1bn to Euro 1.58bn . This is the strongest single increase among all research priorities from the Fifth to the Sixth FP. http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/02/
On 13 June Viviane Reding made a speech on "e-education: new opportunities for all" to the British Chamber of Commerce in Belgium. She emphasised the growing importance of e-learning for European citizens both at home and at work. Ms. Reding announced that the Commission is currently preparing the proposal for an eLearning Programme, to be submitted to the Education Council later this year. The programme will address e-Learning in the broadest sense and the essential role that schools, universities and other centres of learning will continue to play in lifelong learning. The programme will focus on at least two areas: virtual campuses and virtual mobility for students and providing the opportunity for every pupil to have experience of working with other pupils at a distance on a common educational project (school twinning). The speech of Ms. Reding can be found on http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc
On 21 June the World Bank approved a US$5 million Learning and Innovation Credit (LIC) to the Republic of Yemen to support the government’s reform of the higher education system. The LIC will be applied towards developing a higher education reform strategy aimed at expanding enrolment in non-traditional academic fields and responding to the needs of Yemen’s labor market.
On June 14th the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) celebrated its 50th anniversary. Based in Hamburg (Germany), the Institute is an international research, training, information, documentation and publishing centre, focused on adult and continuing education, adult literacy and non-formal basic education. On this occasion education specialists from throughout the world met from 17 to 19 June 2002 to promote the development of democracy through lifelong learning. http://www.unesco.org/education/uie/news/index.shtml
Comparative Costs of Higher Education Courses for International Students in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, 2001 IDP Education Australia Limited and Australian Education international, ISBN: 0 86403 038 X This report examines the extent to which the costs of Australian higher education is globally competitive in terms of international student tuition fees and living costs. The report documents the outcomes of a study by IDP Education Australia (IDP) with support from Australian Education International (AEI). In this study, the costs of an international higher education in Australia were compared with costs in Australia's four main competitor countries, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.
International students in Victorian universities, Auditor General Victoria, April 2002 ISBN: 0 731159853, Copies of the report are available from: Victorian Auditor-General's Office, Level 34, 140 William Street, Melbourne Vic. 3000, Australia, phone: (03) 86017000, fax: (03)86017010, email: comments@audit.vic.gov.au, website: www.audit.vic.gov.au The role and functions of Victorian public universities continues to evolve in response to the changing requirements of, and funding commitment by, governments, the expectations of the community, and the influence of globalisation. Over the past 15 years, the universities have become more market oriented, customer focused and entrepreneurial in their activities. One consequence of this new orientation is that some universities now attract substantial enrolments of full fee-paying international students. While international student programs raise considerable revenue for Victorian universities, these programs also generate discussion concerning their potential effect on access to university places for Victorian students, their impact on academic standards, and the need to ensure that such programs are adequately regulated and monitored. This report presents the results of the audit of the three Victorian universities: Monash University, RMIT University and the University of Melbourne conducted with the objective to assess whether international student programs in Victorian universities have: impacted on access to university for Victorian students, impacted on the academic standards of universities, been of financial benefit to universities and the Victorian economy; and been adequately regulated and monitored
GATS: The case for Open Services Markets. OECD Publication,
April 2002, ISBN 9264196455
7 - 10 July 2002 2 - 4 September 2002 5 - 7 September 2002 6 - 8 September 2002 8 - 11 September 2002 11 - 14 September 2002 16 - 18 September 2002 19 - 21 September 2002 30 September - 4 October 2002 |
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