«Absurd debate on Education for all»

«We see that top institutions of higher education are preferred among students despite expensive tuition fees. This is something we should consider in Norway too,» Kristin Clemet (representing Høyre) said at a press conference during the Bergen Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education 19-20 May.

She states to Universitas that Norway is the only country in Europe where Education for all is fixed by law and characterises the ongoing debate as absurd because it is about how Education for all is not sufficiently fixed by law.

«I am in favour of Education for all, although provoked by this ignorant treatment of other educational systems than the Norwegian. In Norway, there is a fundamental lack of interest in learning of how higher education is organised abroad,» she says.

Clemet uses Sweden as an example of Norwegian ethnocentrism- where there is a similar debate going on.

«Many Swedish tax payers think it is uncanny to finance the studies of an exchange student from the far side of the world if the issue is not indeed humanitarian aid. Such a debate is absent in Norway,» she regrets.

Equal Opportunities to Education?

During the Bergen Conference on the Bologna Process, specified goals were, for the very first time, set in terms of preserving the social dimension within higher education in Europe. Social dimension should be understood as the principle of Equal Opportunities to Education, social or economic background notwithstanding. Nevertheless, the sharp focus of the Bologna Process on competitiveness is worrying several organisations, among them the European Education Forum (EEF) and the National Unions of Students in Europe (ESIB), which think tuition fees and commercialisation do not comply with Equal Opportunities to Education.

«This is a typical Norwegian way of thinking. We cannot behave as if all countries live under Norwegian conditions. Institutions of higher education in poorer countries are dependant on tuition fees due to little public funding. I think the social dimension can be preserved because all countries have some kind of funding arrangement for the most talented students so that it is equal opportunities in terms of talent but not economy,» Clemet says.

Member of the Bologna Process Committee of ESIB Nicolaas Heerens does not share Clemet`s view. He cannot see how Equal Opportunities to Education can be achieved if tuition fees are present.

«ESIB is very much opposed to tuition fees because they destroy accessibility to higher education for students,» he says.

ESIB chair Ms. Vanja Ivosevic pointed out in her speech at the Bergen Conference that the Bologna Process had totally neglected the social dimension prior to the Conference. That is why both she and Heerens express great satisfaction after the Bergen Conference.

«I hope that Bologna’s newfound emphasis on the social dimension will help us in the fight against tuition fees,» Heerens says.

Student Mobility

In her opening speech at the Bergen Conference, Clemet soon stressed another important issue at the Bologna-meeting in Bergen: Mobility. Students and employees shall be without borders in European education of the future.

«All students shall have the opportunity to study abroad, social and economic background notwithstanding,» she proclaims.

«Kristin Clemet, Student Mobility plays an important role in the Bologna Process. But how realistic can such an extensive mobility be when the Bologna Process only influences the «skeleton» of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, not the construction?

«I would not say that extensive mobility is unrealistic. I am not ancient myself and remember how difficult it was to travel abroad in my student days. Today, it is much easier. We have to look at this from another angle because, truth be told, we have made major progress. There is a vast mobility in Europe today,» she says.

Nicolaas Heerens and ESIB feel that there is still a lot of work to do before we can talk about proper student mobility in Europe.

«Difficulties with visas and work permits still create barriers for student mobility in Europe,» he explains. He otherwise points out transparency as the most important factor in relation to professional coordination in Europe.

The next Conference will take place in London in 2007.

The Bologna Process

In 1999, Ministers of Education from 29 different countries and university leaders from all over Europe convened. They created a vision of developing mutual European guidelines for higher education within 2010. This was to be called the Bologna Process.

The main objectives of the Bologna Process are to:

For further information, check out the following website: www.bologna-bergen2005.no

• Introduce a two-pillar degree system with a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree
• Promote mobility, quality assurance, and institutional co-operation among European institutions of higher education