Bologna: The Basics
Origin
The European Higher Education Area arises from different agreements and declarations. The first one was the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) after that we find Sorbona Declaration in 1998 and the famous Bologna Declaration in 1999. Bologna Declaration is the one that named all the process and it was signed by 29 countries. Every second year the Ministers meet to measure progress and set priorities for action, developing the bases of Bologna Declaration. After Bologna (1999), they met in Prague (2001), Berlin (2003), Bergen (2005) and London (2007).
Main Aims
The main aim of the Bologna Process is to liberalize the education sector, more precisely, higher education.
Their marketing strategy has been to promote the mobility of students, as well as teachers and researchers, between countries and to develop a unifying system of degrees that simplify comparison between qualifications across Europe. So, they aim to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA). However, the emphasis on the previous goals should not hide the fact that what they really want to create is an EHEA to attract students and researchers. Their main aim would be, then, to start an attractive education market for the different countries over the world which can compete with other powerful education markets, such as that of the USA.
This view of an attractive education market implies a change in the concept of education. It changes from a public service that benefits society, into a potential sector of economic profits. And therefore, a sector that according to market logic, is necessary to liberalize.
What we know as at the Bologna Process is what has been largely publicized: mobility and homologation. However, it’s merely a strategy to market and justify the process of liberalization of a key sector for society, education.
Consequences
This liberalization of higher education will transform the university. The main changes are: a mercantile approach to education, the introduction of the concept of competition as a guarantee of quality and the promotion of private investment.
The first big change, with an immediate effect for students, is the mercantilization of education. The general goal of teaching and learning will be aimed towards professional work, and its economic interests for society. This change is strongly reflected in the approach to the new degree qualifications. The new degrees are geared to the job market, and the top priority is to obtain the skills and competencies required for it, instead of acquiring in-depth knowledge in the field of the course one is studying.
The second is the introduction of competition, as a key element in university life, between universities and departments, as well as between teachers and even students.
The third change is financial. Public investment in universities is reduced and private investment encouraged which is common to all liberalization processes.
This change means that universities become attractive for business, which means that universities will have to compete for more private financing.
The last big change that the university will suffer is focusing research on the immediate needs of industry, under the name of transferring knowledge to society. This change implies that those university researchers, who investigate issues of interest to those companies that reach agreements with the institution, will be promoted. Consequently, the academic world will not always research areas that they consider important, as these criteria will be distorted or conditioned by business companies. This situation means that government employees and highly qualified researchers will give priority to business sectors instead of benefiting society.
How does it affect students?
Future Students are disadvantaged in several ways. First, it will be more difficult to pay the registration, because of the increase in fees and the reduction of grants. Furthermore, it will be more difficult to access in-depth knowledge because these contents will exclusively be part of the second cycle of new qualifications (masters).
Current university students have to change to the new degrees. Moreover, they will pay increased fees and have new teaching methodologies.
In universities where new qualifications are appearing, many students are obliged to move to the new methodology promoted by the Bologna Process, although these students have a right to continue their studies within the current curriculum.
Students will be forced into a new direction in teaching, and in the university in general, that will prioritize the generation and transmission of business and mercantile knowledge. This phenomenon can be observed by the increasing presence of private companies inside our campuses and in the processes of planning and designing the curriculum and teaching methods.
Other things that have a direct impact on students will be the gradual reduction of grants, the increase of fees, and the emergence and strengthening of loans for studies, to cover inequalities generated by this situation.
It also affects students in the increase of workload, which will be much higher, without this entailing an increase of the knowledge acquired about the subjects.
This change will be accompanied by a reduction of teaching hours, so the achievement of an appropriate level of knowledge will depend on the individual study of the students, beyond the completion of tasks and practices, group work, orals, periodic examinations, work deliveries, etc..
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