CO‐ORDINATION OF THE CONTENT OF PRE‐UNIVERSITY EDUCATION WITH THAT OF POST‐SECONDARY EDUCATION

An Expert Committee Meeting an the Co‐ordination of the Content of Pre‐University Education at School with that of Post‐Secondary Education in Europe was convened by UNESCO in Paris from 19 to 24 June 1978.

We give below information based on those parts of the draft final report of the meeting concerned with relations between secondary and higher education.     

11th CONFERENCE OF THE MINISTERS OF HIGHER EDUCATION OF SOCIALIST COUNTRIES

The 11th Conference of the Ministers of Higher Education of Socialist Countries was held in Balaton‐Aliga (Hungary) from 17 to 19 October 1978.

The following information was provided by Dr. Franciszek Januszkie‐wicz for “Higher Education in Europe”. Dr. Januszkiewicz, of the Institute of Science Policy, Technological Progress and Higher Education in Warsaw, is also Managing Editor of the “Contemporary Higher Education” the international journal on higher education in the socialist countries.     

FUNCTIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY IN THE CONTEXT OF LIFE‐LONG EDUCATION

The economic and social changes which have taken place over the last two decades have led to corresponding changes in the role of higher education institutions. We give below an article concerning this problem in relation to life‐long education. The article is extracted from a report written by Bertrand Schwartz of the University of Bauphine, Paris, which was presented within the Council of Europe ‘s Council for Cultural Co‐operation project on permanent education. The findings of the project have been presented in a recent publication, “Work of Consolidation of the Evaluation of Pilot Experiments in the Permanent Education Field”.     

RECENT TRENDS AND FUTURE TENDENCIES OF HIGHER EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES OF EASTERN EUROPE

Developments in higher education in the socialist countries of Eastern Europe are of interest to a large number of the Bulletin readers. In the context of the topic on which this issue of the Bulletin is con‐centrated, the following information is presented. It is based on an article entitled “Recent Trends and issues in Higher Education in Eastern Europe”, which was written by Professor Stefan Kwiatkowski, Deputy Director of the Institute of Science Policy, Technological Progress and Higher Education in Warsaw.     

FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Future development of higher education is at present a widely discussed issue in the United Kingdom. This discussion was inspired to a great extent, by a paper “Higher Education into the 1990s: A Discussion Document” issued in February 1978 by the Department of Education and Science (DES) and the Scottish Education Department. (Editor's Note: The main part of this document was published in No.3, May‐June 1978, issue of this Bulletin).

The article presented below reviews prospects of future developments in higher education mainly of the university sector in the United Kingdom in the context of the above document. It is based on the Final Report of the Group on Forecasting and University Expansion established in April 1978 by the Conference of University Administrators (CUA). The Report draws attention to a number of matters which are either not covered or not developed in the Discussion Document. The Chairman of the group was Mr. M.L. Shattock, Academic Register, University of Warwick.     

THE MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND THE USA 1

The origins of the problem addressed by this article go back to the Fourteenth Session of the Standing Conference on University Problems (CC‐PU) of the Council of Europe, meeting in March 1991, during which the delegation of Austria evoked certain difficulties which Austrian and other European university students and graduates were having in obtaining proper recognition for their credentials by higher education institutions in the United States. As the Council of Europe requested the collaboration of UNESCO in dealing with the problem, a Working Group was formed in 1992 to propose solutions. The present article is an abridged version of the draft report of this Working Group which is to be presented at the Seventh Session of the Regional Committee of the Convention on the Recognition of Studies, Diplomas, and Degrees concerning Higher Education in the States Belonging to the Europe Region, meeting in Budapest on 18 June 1994. It outlines and explains the differences in role, scope, structure, and philosophy of higher education in the USA and in Europe that have given rise to problems of recognition and equivalence and proposes solutions.

     

USE OF EDUCATIONAL TELEVISION BY THE INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

After a certain period of relactance and objective difficulties the use of television as an educational medium in the institutions of higher education is now increasing. The following article, written for “Higher Education in Europe” by Drs. Rainhard Borm and Sigrid Borm from the Institute of Higher Education at the Berlin Humboldt University, presents the current situation with regard to the application of educational television in the educational process by the institutions of higher education in the German Democratic Republic.     

THE STEERING OF HIGHER EDUCATION: A HUNGARIAN CASE STUDY

The steering of higher education in Hungary is symbolized by the House of Professors in Budapest, a building owned by the Hungarian Ministry of Education and Culture, which houses a number of international programmes of importance to Hungarian higher education as well as the Hungarian Rectors’ Conference. First the article presents an over view of present trends in steering and governing higher education in western Europe. Then it compares western European tendencies with those typical of eastern and central Europe. Finally, it identifies Hungarian higher education as an intermediary case situated between the extremes of western and eastern developments. The article concludes with an exposition of how Hungarian higher education will be steered by remote control mechanisms.     

OBSTACLES TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PRINCIPLE OF LIFELONG EDUCATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The idea that higher studies are confined to a few years of one's early life and separated from later periods of work, is being changed, by the thought that the periods of study and gainful employment can be suitably interspaced throughout the adult life span, to the. advantage of both the individual and society. However, the implementation of the principle of lifelong education will not come about until many barriers and habits have been overcome in higher education, the world of work and public opinion. These problems, mainly in the context of higher education, are analyzed in the following article, which is based on a paper by Dr. M.M. Chambers of the Department of Educational Administration, Illinois State University (USA). The paper was presented during the 4th International Conference on Higher Education held at the University of Lancaster, UK (29 August ‐‐ 1 September 1978).     

HIGHER EDUCATION AND ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION IN LIGHT OF THE RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE TBILISI CONFERENCE

Promotion of environmental education in higher education and Unesco activities in this context, especially in light of the work and recommendations of the Intergovernmental Conference on Environmental Education, are presented in the following article.

It was written for “Higher Education in Europe” by Victor Kolybine from the Environmental Education Section of Unesco.     

Higher Education: Past,Present, and Future--A View from UNESCO

What follows is the edited Keynote Address, delivered by Sir John Daniel, the Assistant Director-General for Education at UNESCO, at the opening ceremony of the UNESCO-CEPES International Jubilee Conference on "Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Its Role and Contribution to Our Common Advancement", Bucharest, 6-8 September 2002. The text briefly traces the history of the European Centre for Higher Education (UNESCO-CEPES) since its founding in 1972 and the involvement of the author in its activities, as of the 1980s, as a member of its Advisory Committee. He further evokes the involvement of UNESCO itself in education, particularly higher education, an involvement with roots stretching back to League of Nations days. UNESCO-CEPES, the vocation of which was to further co-operation in higher education across ideologically divided Europe, is now working in an entirely new context, both in Europe and worldwide.     

THE SITUATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN GREECE

We give below current information on higher education in Greece based on the report presented by Mrs. Lina Cantifaris, the Undersecretary of State for Higher Education of the Greek Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs, during the 35th meeting of the Council of Europe's Committee for Higher Education and Research (CHER), which was held in Athens from 27 to 29 April 1977. (For a report on this meeting see page 3 in this issue).     

PARTICIPATION OF USA UNIVERSITIES AND COLLEGES IN CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAMMES

The concept of lifelong education encompasses a number of different types of educational programmes e.g. adult education, recurrent education as well as continuing education. The official legal definition of continuing education in the USA Educational Amendments of 1976 to the Higher Education Act states: “Continuing education programme” means post‐secondary instruction designed to meet the educational ‘ needs and interests of adults, including the expansion of learning opportunities for adults who are not adequately served by current educational offerings in their communities.

The following article presents participation by the US universities and colleges in this form of higher education. It is based oh the paper written by Dr. Rosalind K. Loving, Dean of the College of Continuing Education, University of Southern California and presented during the Salzburg Seminar on Continuing Education which was held from 6 to 26 August 1978 in Salzburg (Austria).     

THE IMPLICATIONS OF INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

Studies on intercultural education undertaken by the Council of Europe have highlighted a gap at the level of higher education between transmitted knowledge and the indispensable information needed by individuals living in the pluricultural contexts of contemporary European societies. A task of higher education is to inculcate in teachers an intercultural perspective both for work in schools and for activities in community contexts and perspectives. The intercultural dimension should not simply address itself to a special category of culturally different students, but rather, should address all students so as to sensitize them to the cultural pluralism which surrounds them and to educate them to successfully master it. Certain disciplines have a privileged status with regard to the transmission of useful information for the education of all citizens living in pluricultural societies: history, geography, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, economics, sociology, and law. Several examples of intercultural education programmes offered by higher education institutions are presented in this study (in Portugal, Canada, and France) as well as reference to activities sponsored by the Higher Education and Research Division of the Council of Europe.     

PROBLEMS OF ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE CONTEXT OF ACADEMIC STRUCTURES

Problems of access to higher education are currently receiving considerable attention. One of the factors governing access to higher education systems and institutions is the structure of the systems themselves. This problem was the main concern of a research report written by Professor Burton R. Clark, Chairman of the Programme of Comparative and Historical Studies of Higher Education at Yale University, and the main elements of the report are given below.     

新世纪欧洲教育的蓝图--《欧洲教育与培训2010年目标》述评

介绍<欧洲教育与培训2010年目标>出台的社会背景,简述<目标>基本内容及其实施策略.<目标>的提出与实施反映了知识社会对欧洲教育的全新挑战,强化了欧洲教育一体化的态势,认为这是欧洲在教育的多元与统一中进行的有意义的探索与尝试.     

博洛尼亚进程中高等教育质量保证一体化探究

20世纪90年代,劳动力的流动性促使欧盟成员国意识到共同资格认证的重要性,不断增加的欧洲各国高等教育之间的协作要求学校和系统都需要更大的透明度和理解力。《柏林公报》、《卑尔根公报》以及欧洲大学协会所颁布的五个趋势报告对欧洲高等教育质量保证一体化问题作了系统和详尽的解释。另外,欧洲高等教育质量保证协会（ENQA）颁布的《欧洲高等教育质量保证标准及指导方针》以及其他形式的报告也对欧洲高等教育质量保证的现状和趋势做出了详尽的论述。质量保证是实现欧洲高等教育空间的重中之重,虽然困难重重,但也充满希望。     

European Survey of Master's and Doctoral Dissertions in Science Education

Editorial comment and summaries

English

Drs Kjöllerström and Lybeck present here a brief report of their European survey of master's and doctoral dissertations in science education, undertaken subsequently to a workshop on Research in Science Education in Europe held at Malente, FR Germany in 1976. The full report of their survey has recently been published by the Institute for Science Education (IPN), Kiel, FR Germany.

The article published here reports on the distribution, size and organization of science education research groups, their areas of research interest and higher degree programmes. It also surveys the main areas of science education research at master's and doctoral level undertaken during the period 1971‐1976, and the employment taken up by master's and doctoral students upon completion of their studies.     

SHORT OVERVIEW OF CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN LITHUANIA IN THE DOMAIN OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION AND RECOGNITION OF HIGHER EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

This article describes current developments in regard to quality assurance and the recognition of higher education qualifications in Lithuania. With the aim of internationalizing its higher education system, Lithuania acceded to the UNESCO European Diploma Convention in 1994 and to the Council of Europe Convention on the Equivalence of Diplomas Leading to Admission to Universities in 1996. The Ministry of Education created the Lithuanian Centre for Quality Assessment in Higher Education in January 1995. It has been very active in a number of directions since then. In addition, Lithuania has subjected its science to international evaluation, is a partner in the Baltic Higher Education Coordination Committee, and is participating in two PHARE projects for the development of co‐operation in higher education. The main obstacle to greater co‐operation in regard both to the recognition of academic qualifications and to quality assurance is lack of financial resources.