Michael Creed
Question:160 Mr. Creed asked the Minister for Education and Science the Government's obligations under the Bologna declaration; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13351/01]
Written Answers - Bologna Declaration.
The joint declaration of the European Ministers of Education convened in Bologna in June 1999, which was signed by 29 countries, is a commitment to establish the European area of higher education and to promote the European system of higher education in a global context. The goals of the declaration are to increase the competitiveness of the European system of higher education and to increase mobility and employability within the European area. Recognising the fundamental principles of autonomy and diversity, the establishment of the European area of higher education will be achieved by greater compatibility and comparability of the European systems of higher education.
The declaration commits the signatories to engage in co-ordinating their policies to achieve the following objectives within the first decade of the third millennium: adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees; adoption of a system based on two main cycles, undergraduate and graduate; establishment of a system of credit accumulation and transfer "such as in the ECTS system" to promote student mobility; promotion of mobility of students and teachers; co-operation in quality assurance; and promotion of the necessary European dimensions in higher education.