The Bologna Process in brief
The main goal of the Bologna process is to
create and develop a European Higher Education Area (EHEA). This does not mean a unification of the individual
national systems, but rather the creation and development of several means to connect them. The goal of the Bologna
process is to preserve the diversity of the national systems (as well as the individual universities) and to increase
their mutual transferability. This should happen not only in the area of international student and staff mobility,
but also within the area of foreign academic education and qualification recognition.
The central elements of the Process
Three cycle higher
education
Higher education has been organised in three cycles:
-
First cycle: mostly 180-240 ECTS (for ECTS see below), awarding a bachelor’s degree. It represents 3-4 years of study.
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Second cycle: typically 90-120 ECTS, awarding a master’s degree.
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Third cycle: no given ECTS range since the periods of study vary in length. Successful candidates are awarded a doctoral degree.
http://www.ehea.info/pid34438/three-cycle-system.html
ECTS System
The workload of individual bachelor’s and master’s courses
is expressed through a certain number of ECTS credits. Their goal is to simplify the inter-universitary and
international recognition of courses and degrees. One ECTS credit represent 25-30 hours of work, including lecture
time, personal study, assignments and so on. One year of full-time study should contain 60 ECTS credits worth of
work.
http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/repository/education/library/publications/2015/ects-users-guide_en.pdf
National Qualification Frameworks (NQF)
Every nation taking part
in the Bologna Process agrees to set up a NQF, defining students’ expected competences and abilities at all levels of
tertiary education. The aim of this procedure is to make mobility between national systems
easier.
http://www.ehea.info/cid102844/national-qualifications-frameworks-2009.html
The Czech tertiary education system uses all of these elements to make both national and international recognition, exchange and accreditation easier.
More information on www.ehea.info
