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European Education, vol. 36, no. 4, Winter 20045, pp. 4045. 2005 M.E. Sharpe, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN 10564934/2005 $9.50 + 0.00.

PER NYBORG

Social Issues in the Bologna Process

Who Benefits?
The Bologna Declaration did not come out of the blue. It was, as you know, preceded by the 1998 Sorbonne Declaration, which in turn built on the 1997 Lisbon Recognition Convention. Today, rather than discussing recognition of exams and degrees, I shall take the Lisbon Convention as a starting point to talk about recognition of human values. The parties to this convention are conscious of the fact that the right to education is a human right, and that higher education is a cultural and scientific asset for both individuals and society. The great diversity of education systems in the European region reflects its cultural, social, political, religious, and economic diversity, an exceptional asset that should be fully respected. In this way, the Lisbon Convention clearly underlines the social and cultural dimensions of higher education in Europe. Since 1997, the convention has been ratified by thirty-two states and signed by another eleven. The ratification certainly is a manifestation of the public responsibility for higher education, a responsibility that is fundamental to educational systems in European countries. The social dimension was introduced in the Bologna Process
Originally presented at the European Access Network, Prague, 29 June2 July 2003. Per Nyborg is chair of the Committee for Higher Education and Research, Council of Europe.
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by the 1999 Prague Communiqu, in which the ministers supported the idea that higher education should be considered a public good and that it is and will remain a public responsibility. When ministers meet again in Berlin this coming September, they will ask all countries participating in the Bologna Process to ratify the Lisbon Recognition Convention. In Europe we agree that public authorities have a responsibility for higher education. This responsibility must at the minimum extend to the makeup of the education system, the framework within which higher education is delivered, regardless of by whom. One important part of the higher education system is the qualifications framework. There is agreement in Europe that public authorities decide the degree structure and its requirements. If this were not the case, one of the key goals of the Bologna Processa two-tier degree structurewould be difficult to implement, as would the goal of transparency. In the Bologna Process, another important element of the higher education framework is quality assurance. There now seems to be agreement that public authorities are responsible for ensuring that there is adequate provision for transparent quality assurance, whether or not they themselves carry it out. Recognition is of course closely linked to quality assurance. Funding of higher education should be considered a public responsibility. However, in any system, individuals have to carry some of the cost. The difficult part is to agree on how much public funding is reasonable, and on what conditions. As student numbers are high or are rising and quality education is what we insist on, it will be increasingly difficult in most countries to provide enough public money for higher education. Students claim that there should be no tuition fees. In the Nordic countries, public higher education is still free. However, even in these wealthy countries, including my home country Norway, there is not enough money in the higher education sector and an increasing part of university budgets has to come from commissioned research and other money-earning services. In this situation, we must at least maintain that public authorities have the main responsibility for funding higher education.

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Student support is a key economic issue where no ready-made answer exists, but which is intimately linked to the public responsibility for making higher education more accessible. This is where we enter the social dimension of the Bologna Process. No qualified candidate should have to abstain from higher education because he or she lacks the means to study. I believe equal access of all qualified candidates to higher education is an important element of higher education policies in Europe. Public authorities must ensure that qualified candidates are treated equally. I believe the public responsibility should also include measures to improve educational opportunities for underprivileged groups. These groups are not yet mentioned in any Bologna Process Documentation. I would maintain that public authorities must bear the main responsibility for ensuring equal opportunities in higher education, including access policies and student finance. However, public responsibility for higher education means national responsibility. Conditions vary greatly; countries in Southeastern Europe cannot possibly afford the student support provided in Norway. My hope is that further development of the social dimension in the Bologna Process will mean increased solidarity, rich countries giving more support to those suffering from the aftermath of war. In the long run, only stable and thriving national economies in participating states will make it possible to realize our vision of a European Higher Education Area. Up to this point, the Bologna Process has focused on system improvement. I am sure that the Berlin ministerial meeting will put more emphasis on the social dimension and on the challenges relating to access. Good guidance for further work on access may be found in the 1998 Council of Europe Recommendation on Access to Higher Education. The recommendation states that widening opportunities for members of all groups in society to participate in higher education contribute to securing democracy and building confidence in situations of social tension. It also tells us that:
Despite expansion in student numbers in recent years, there is widespread evidence of underrepresentation in higher education affecting

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people of low socioeconomic status, people with disabilities, and certain minorities. Despite progress toward gender equality, women are still underrepresented in science and technology. All who are able and willing to participate successfully in higher education should have fair and equal opportunities to do so. The higher education population as a whole should increasingly reflect the diversity of a changing society, building on progress in this respect in school and preschool education, while continuing to welcome students from other parts of Europe and the world. Admissions systems and the learning environment in higher education institutions should give equal opportunities to all individuals and groups in society. People with disabilities should be given equal opportunities to participate in study, research, and employment in higher education, and physical and systemic barriers to their participation should progressively be removed. Admissions criteria and procedures should recognize the different starting points and cultural backgrounds of applicants and seek to include all those with the potential to benefit. The range of access routes should be widened by extending admissions criteria to include alternatives to the conventional secondary school leaving certificate. In particular: high-level vocational qualifications should be accepted as appropriate preparation for higher education; applicants who are generally well qualified but suffer from specific educational gaps should have opportunities to follow bridging courses, provided by higher or by further education. Action should be taken, both nationally and by institutions, to tackle the causes of student underperformance and dropout. Professional guidance, counseling, and career services should be developed and coordinated to provide support for students before entry into higher education, as well as during courses and before entering working life. This support should be relevant to students of all ages, from all social and cultural backgrounds, and to those with disabilities. To enable members of a diverse student intake to achieve academic success, steps should be taken: to reorganize curriculum content and modify its delivery to reflect the diversity of a multicultural society; to employ flexible language policies in delivery of the curriculum, where there are large national or regional linguistic minorities; to promote a climate of tolerance, solidarity, and democracy.

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The Council of Europe Recommendation strongly underlines the public responsibility for funding higher education.
Public funding for higher education must have the ultimate goal that all citizens should have fair and equal opportunities for higher education. The mechanisms of public funding for higher education institutions and students should support the implementation of policies for access. This is particularly relevant where the system for the funding of institutions includes incentives for quality and performance. To reduce the financial barriers to wider access to higher education, financial support should be provided for student subsistence, taking into account the cost of dependants. Priority should be given to meeting the needs of those from lower-income groups. Incentive scholarships to students with high academic grades may play a complementary role Financial arrangements should recognize the additional needs of disabled students. Where tuition or registration fees are introduced, it is desirable: to treat fees as a limited student contribution to the cost of higher education in partnership with the taxpayer, rather than as a substitute for public funding; to relate payment of the student contribution income, for example by a scheme of financial aid covering the cost of fees for students on low incomes; to regulate fees at a comparable level in all public institutions.

If we follow the Council of Europe Recommendation on Access to Higher Education, Europe will be a better place for students. However, we should not forget that improvement of internal systems and conditions is not the only goal of the Bologna Process. Another important goal is to make European higher education competitive on a global scale. This goal coincides with goals of the European Union to be generally competitive with other highly developed regions in the world. Special grant schemes are being set up to attract the best students from other parts of the world to leading European universities. We also have to face the challenges of the General Agreement on Trade in Services [GATS] (including educational services). There is no social dimension to trade. Focusing on quality and excellence is important, but it must never be considered an alternative to building and running a higher

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education system giving access to all. Everybody seeking higher education should be given a chance to benefit from it. Realization of the principle of equal access is a national responsibility. The economic strength necessary to realize this and other principles of the Bologna Process varies greatly between states in Europe. However, solidarity with those states that have the longest and most uphill path is apparent: The recommendation to the Berlin ministerial meeting is that countries in Southeastern Europe should be accepted as partners in the Bologna Process. The Bologna impact on the systems of higher education in these countries can be clearly seen and the best way to support further progress must be to stimulate continuing and increasing cooperation. Let us hope that our cooperation will assist the building of stable, democratic systems in this part of Europe as well and that the goal of equal access may be reached in the whole of the European Higher Education Area.

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