REFORMING THE RUSSIAN HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

An aperçu of the reform process in higher education in the Russian Federation is given. It begins with a statement of the objectives of reform and a listing of the laws and decrees concerning it promulgated in 1991, 1992, and 1993. Great weight has been placed on the setting of standards and the creation of mechanisms to enforce these standards. Also, efforts are being made to adapt certain higher education course programmes to regional needs. The article concludes with a short discussion of current problems.     

ORGANIZATION OF COURSES IN THE REFORMED SWEDISH SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION

One of the aims of the reform of Swedish higher education implemented in July 1977 is a renewal of the content of education programmes in connection with requirements of working life and lifelong education.

Below are presented the main types of courses which have been set up in accordance with the above‐mentioned aim.     

FINLAND: REPORT ON THE REGIONAL EXPANSION OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM

In October 1974 a committee was appointed by the Finnish Ministry of Education, with the assignment of studying the necessity, prerequisites, and principles relating to a more balanced regional expansion of the higher education system in Finland.

The committee has recently presented its findings, which concentrate on the following issues:

• the distribution of higher education places between the regions of Finland;

• the regional effects of a unit of higher education;

• the regional distribution of the higher education system and the administrative decisions concerning regional development;

• principles informing the regional expansion of the higher education system;

• resources for the regional expansion of the higher education system.

The below information gives the main elements of the committee's report.     

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The University Today International Seminar is presented and briefly described. The theme and the sub‐themes of the thirty‐fifth session of this seminar are also presented and linked to the current situation of Yugoslavia. The modus operandi of the sessions is described, and very short summaries of the major presentations and of the published papers are given. The article ends with a summary of the final recommendations of the seminar.     

HIGHER EDUCATION AND THE CONCEPT OF LIFELONG EDUCATION

The following article does not give a complete answer to the above question nor does it define the concept of lifelong education, but it shows the place and the role of lifelong education in the system of education.

The article is based on the first chapter of the study written by James B. Ingram, Director of the B. Ed. Course at Bradford College (the United Kingdom) in collaboration with the Unesco Division of Educational Structures, Contents and Methods and the Unesco Institute for Education in Hamburg.     

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.     

论学分制与高等教育质量

本文论述了学分制有利于教学质量的提高,学分制实施中存在的问题,部分发达国家学分制实施状况以及我国高校应立足实际建立学分制运行保障机制。     

美国《高等教育法》修订与高等教育财政改革

1965年通过的《高等教育法》是美国历史上最为重要的高等教育立法之一,扩展了联邦政府在高等教育财政领域的角色。该法以再授权的方式周期性地予以修订,到目前为止,已进行了8次再授权。2008年通过的《高等教育机会法》是对该法的第8次再授权,本次修订提出了一系列重要的高等教育财政改革措施,并突出体现了促进和改善入学机会、可负担和问责的高等教育财政理念。     

私立高等教育的公共性

本文重点分析了私立大学的公共控制问题和私立机构利用公共资源的问题。私立学院和大学将政府提供的资助转换为学费,取得空前的繁荣。不同私立大学在市场化机制下的行为方式是不同的,优秀私立大学带动了学费水平的不断提高。营利性大学是美国高等教育领域中发展最快的一部分。成功商业模式的复制和学生资助政策,是营利性大学快速发展的两个关键因素。私立大学的出现也带来了教育质量等一系列问题。新的政策走向似乎更有利于营利性大学,使之有可能获得更多的公共资源。     

从二元制到一元制-英国高等教育体制变迁的动因研究

英国高等教育体制变迁是一个“逆潮流”的案例。本文首先从历史纵向角度追溯英国高等教育从二元制到一元制的历程,然后从宏观和微观两个层面,用趋同理论、漂移理论、组织社会学理论和政策变迁等理论解释英国高等教育从二元制到一元制变迁的动因。     

STATE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF QUALITY ASSURANCE MECHANISMS IN THE SYSTEM OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN LITHUANIA

The first laws for regulating qualification requirements in Lithuanian higher education were passed by the Lithuanian government in 1991. Other laws providing for the nostrification of foreign degrees, awarded under the authority of the former Soviet State, were passed. Lithuania is now proceeding towards the development of bodies and procedures for the accreditation of institutions and programmes, this despite public weariness with over‐bureaucratization.     

THE RESTRUCTURING OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE USSR

Great interest is being expressed in higher education circles everywhere and at all levels in the fundamental changes envisaged with regard to the organizational structure and contents of higher education in the USSR. These changes constitute an important part of the restructuring; the “perestroika”, currently going on in all spheres and at all levels of Soviet society.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CC CPSU) adopted the Principal Directions for the Reorganization of Higher Education and Specialized Secondary Education. As a follow‐up to that framework document, the CC CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a number of decisions, dated 13 March 1987, aimed at giving substance to and at amplifying the basic principles enumerated. As change in Soviet higher education has been in the air for some time, we were able to preview some of its directions in previous issues of Higher Education in Europe, specifically in No. 4, Vol. XI (1986), pp. 80‐81 and in No. 2, Vol. XII (1987), pp. 83‐84.

As promised in the latter issue, we are now presenting the main provisions of these “Measures”, and “Decisions” via excerpts taken from five documents which were published partly in Byulleten’ Ministerstva Vysshego i Srednego Spetsialnogo Obrazovaniya, No. 6, 1987, and partly in Pravda, 27 March 1987.

The editors are solely responsible for the choice of excerpts as well as for the editorial and stylistic modifications that they believed necessary in order to fit them into the content of Higher Education in Europe.     

美国高等教育的十个时代

美国高等教育的十个时代是指从哈佛学院建立至今这段历史,其时代特征体现在三方面:大学课程、学生生活、大学结构。本文分析了美国高等教育每个时代或者说每三十年的变化特征,探求了美国高等教育发展的历史动态及其基本过程。