2003-09-08

The Recognition, Treatment, Experience and Implications of Transnational Education in Central and Eastern Europe 2002-2003

The report is split into six sections. The introduction explains the context and rationale of the study. Section Two provides a brief update on the situation in Western Europe, confirming the detailed national reports produced in the original report on Western Europe, together with a broad review of global developments. The substantive country reports produced with the aid of over 108 national experts follow this. Section Four contains the main analysis of the information gathered, and conclusions drawn, about the strategic challenges posed by transnational education. Section Five contains recommendations, placed within the Bologna context, to a range of stakeholders at the local, national and international level. The final Section Six, provides appendices that include bibliography, a list of all those consulted, details of the steering group and national experts, interview schedule and the full set of ‘conclusions and recommendations´ from the 2001 report on Western Europe.

This report covers Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia. These Central and Eastern European (CEE) education systems have experienced an unparalleled level of change in the last ten years. Their educational systems face a unique set of constraints and pressures as they undergo reform. The relationships between the state, public, and private education, are, for the most part, quite different to those found in Western Europe. Transnational education providers play a more significant role, and have had a stronger impact, here than elsewhere.