2005:30 R

How did things turn out?

At the same time this year´s evaluations have revealed major problems in one or two areas. One of these is teacher training, where serious shortcomings have been identified. The other area is language where the pattern that emerges is that even languages like French and German are language subjects with few students and limited educational settings.

The Bologna Process, in other words joint efforts to ensure that European education will be better coordinated and internationally more competitive, is continuing and its impact is becoming increasingly apparent. This applies both to the degree system and evaluation of higher education. One proposal from the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA) contains principles for both the internal quality assurance of the higher education institutions and also external evaluation, together with how the evaluating agencies (such as the National Agency) can assure and develop the quality of their own operations.

A special questionnaire survey shows that the assessors appointed by the National Agency consider that its evaluation model functions well. At special seminars arranged with undergraduate and postgraduate student assessors the same opinion is expressed. Both the seminars and the questionnaire survey provide important information on which to base the design of the quality evaluation system that will succeed the current one in 2007. Another important consideration will be what is happening within the framework of the Bologna Process.