belgrade, november 2007 the national qualifications framework in higher education in romania:...

Belgrade, november 2007

THE NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS THE NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

FRAMEWORK IN HIGHER FRAMEWORK IN HIGHER

EDUCATIONEDUCATION

IN ROMANIA: IN ROMANIA:

ACTIONS AND PLANSACTIONS AND PLANS

Prof. dr. Dumitru MIRON

Secretary of state

Prof.dr. Sorin Eugen ZAHARIA

Head of ACPART


1. Globalisation and

competences


Economic globalisation


Companies merge


Competences-based international

competitiveness

Requires and provides competences

Intelligent enterprises

Provides competences Entrepreneurial universities

Concordance between the educational offer and the competences required by the labour market in order to support competitiveness

Economic world Academic world


2. Objectives of the Qualification Framework for Higher Education


►The rationale for the QFHE is to provide a mechanism to relate national frameworks to each other as to enable:

1. International transparency and comparability between and across universities ; with the employers and other stakeholders;

Instrument: Diploma Supplement;

2. International recognition of qualifications

3. International mobility of learners and graduates Learners can ultimately have greater confidence that the outcomes of

study abroad will contribute to a qualification sought in their country.

A framework will also be of particular help in supporting the development and recognition of joint degrees from more than one country;

4. Optimal insertion on the global labour market


3. National Agency for Qualifications in Higher Education and Partnership with Economic and Social Environment - ACPART


Missions (1):

to elaborate, implement, and update the national framework for qualifications in higher education concerning the development, recognition and certification of qualifications based on the knowledge, abilities, and competences acquired by beneficiaries of the higher education system;

to analyse compatibility of the study programmes curricula of higher education with national qualifications framework standards;


Missions (2):

to involve Romanian higher education institutions in the development of a European society based on knowledge and productivity, with a competitive and dynamic economy;

to promote the opening of higher education institutions towards the socio-economic environment through cooperation actions among higher education institutions, economic operators and other organisations, aimed at developing specific partnerships, labour market research, an entrepreneurial dimension to Romanian universities, as well as knowledge transfer.


4. National Qualification Framework Strategy for 2007-2010


A. National Level A.1. The development of National Qualifications

Framework for Higher Education

A.2. The creation of National Register of Qualifications in Higher Education

B. International Level B.1. Exchanges of good practices; B.2. Involvement in European actions for

qualifications framework; B.3. Harmonization oh the Romanian NQF with

EQF and with other countries NQFs.


A.1. The National Qualification Framework for Higher Education

I. Pre – development Phase

II. Development Phase

III.Implementation Phase


A.1. The National Qualification Framework for Higher Education

I. Pre-development phase:- Establishment of the Advisory Committee at

the ACPART level;- Clarification of terminology and concepts;- Analysis of Bologna documents (EHEA

Framework) and EQF European Commission papers;

- Printing a Glossary of qualifications framework.


II. Development phase:

1. First step: buiding the Methodology for NQFHE The methodology content:

Objectives of NQF: transparency; mobility; employability; autonomy & accountability of universities.

Definition of the key concepts; The descriptors necessary for the national qualifications

framework; The procedures that an institution has to respect in order to

be given the right of certifying a qualification (the dossier for the validation of a qualification);

The National Register of Qualifications in Higher Education.


2. Second step: Building a consensus on the NQFHE development and implementation


3. Third step: piloting the descriptors grid on 10 study programmes:

- Sectoral workshop with universities and others stakeholders;

- Framework development concept build on existing initiatives and provided opportunities for coherence;

- Design of competences based curricula.


4. The forth step: up-dating and improving the final version of the Romanian Methodology for NQFHE:

- compatible to both EHEA framework and EQF;

- adapted to the Romanian HE environment.


Synergies: There is a synergetic relationship between the

ACPART Agency and the quality assurance.

The ACPART Agency manages the description of the higher education professional qualifications for each study programmes and validates the new qualifications, while nationals agencies for quality assurance evaluate the content and the quality of the process which ends by certifying a specific higher education program.


ACPART

Higher education institution

National Agencies for QA

MERY*Labour market

requests

*MERY – The Ministry of Education, Research and Youth

Dossier for

qualification

validation Dossier with the notification for qualification approval

Procedures that a HE institution has to respect in order to be given the right of

certifying a qualification

Notificatio

n

Notification

-Evaluation;

-Included in NQF.


A.2. The development of the National Qualifications Register for Higher Education (NQRHE)

• The NRQHE should be seen as a multi-actor and multi-

national tool of interest.

- As a multi-actor tool, NRQHE represents the result of the

collaboration among different stakeholders;

- As a multi-national tool, NRQHE will be available on-line

both in Romanian and in English, in order to ensure the

national and international access to information.


• NRQHE has been started in his first experimental form, bringing together all the titles/qualifications given by the Romanian universities. This is in public use starting with 1st of May 2007 on the ACPART website.

• The future development of the Register will be supported by projects with Governmental and Structural Funds.


B. INTERNATIONAL LEVELB. INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

B.1. Harmonization of the Romanian NQF with EQF

and with other countries the NQFs The Leonardo da Vinci Project 2006-4607/001-001 LE2-707

EQF ”Developing Key Methodological Units for the the

Implementation of EQF by Means of NQFs – EQF by

NQFs”. Its development period is January 1st, 2007 –

December 31st, 2008.


The general objective of the project is to exchange experiences

and to develop and test modular grids of competences and key

methodological units comprising principles, mechanisms and

guidance tools for the elaboration of EQF and specific NQFs.

The project partners are: University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-

en-Yvelines (France), Higher Education and Training Awards

Council (Ireland), CROSS (Netherlands), The Ministry of

Education and Research (Romania), The Association for

Information Technology and Communication (Romania),

University of Zaragoza (Spain), The National Recognition

Information Centre (United Kingdom).

Project is financed by the European Commission through DGEAC.


The Leonardo da Vinci Pilot Project FR/04/B/P/PP-151128 „European mechanism for distance information, orientation and validation of the jobs and qualifications in informatics and multimedia, from lifelong learning point of view” – EURO PORTIC promoted by the University of Versailles. Partner countries: France, Spain, Great Britain, Romania, Estonia.

The transnational cooperation project Socrates-Minerva 116530-CP-1-2004-1-FR-MINERVA-MPP „European programme of e-trainings and validation through competences in data-processing and multimedia” – e-FORMINFO promoted by the University of Versailles. Partner countries: France, Spain, Poland, Romania, Great Britain.


The Leonardo da Vinci Project RO/05/B/F/PP175012 “Virtual training for young entrepreneurs of innovating business” - eNOV, promoted by ACPART. Partner countries: Romania, France, Greece, Spain, Belgium, Poland and UK.

The Leonardo da Vinci Mobility Project

RO/2006/97041/EX „Experts training in the field of quality assurance and qualifications in HE” – CALEX promoted by the ACPART Agency. Partner countries: France, Ireland , Spain.


5. Publications


Papers and support materials for information and dissemination regarding the system of qualifications at European and national level

„Conceptual bases for the development of NQFHE in Romania” (May, 2007)

Proceedings of UNISO 2006 (May, 2007)

Proceedings of UNISO 2007 (to be published)


6. Events


►Summer University „UNIversity in SOciety – UNISO”

2007 „Lifelong learning and qualifications in higher education” was organized in Versailles (France) - 9-12 July 2007 by ACPART in collaboration with the University of Versailles with the support of DG EAC of EC, University of Rouen, University Paris 6 Pierre et Marie Curie, University of Picardy "Jules Verne“, Regional Council of Ile de France, General Council of Yvelines, and Romanian Association for Knowledge Transfer.2008 “for a Competences based Higher Education: Challenges and solutions ”, in Iasi (Romania) – 15 -20 of July


International workshop: EQF and NQFs

Role in Supporting Professional Career

Development


However…

There is still a long way!- The government approval of the Methodology for

NQFHE;- All study programmes leading to the new degrees,

should be (re)designed to be linked to the framework…- …along with credit transfer and accumulation system- Curriculum design, approaches to teaching, learning and

student assessment should also reflect the new approach

- Internal and external QA process should be linked to the framework with efforts to avoid « a technology of standards »

- The need for a critical debate in the implementation process


7. Conclusions


1. The necessity for improving the dialogue with universities, stakeholders, students:

- to explain;

- to build up together the NQFs;

- to have a feedback.

2. The NQF should be an opportunity for a centered student higher education as well as for reviewing and possibly re-designing the qualifications descriptions and even the entire qualifications system;

3. The NQF to be characterized by:- flexibility;

- applicability;

- visibility.


4. Qualifications framework should support:- the mobility;- curricula reform;- better understanding of study cycle and learning outcomes

after each cycles.

5. Work towards fully implementing a national qualifications framework based on learning outcomes by 2010.


6. Linking the development of the qualifications framework to other Bologna action lines:

quality assurance, credit transfer and accumulation systems, lifelong learning, flexible learning paths and the social dimension. the Recognition of Qualifications, particularly the diploma

supplement and quality assurance


7. Make formal links between the Bologna Process and the ENIC/NARIC network to undertake further work on developing and implementing national action plans for recognition.


Stocktaking Ministries Conference of London 2007


Thank you for Thank you for youryour

attentionattention!!

National Agency for Qualifications National Agency for Qualifications in Higher Education and Partnership in Higher Education and Partnership with Economic and Social Environment with Economic and Social Environment (ACPART)(ACPART)Bdv. Schitu Magureanu, no. 1, et.IIIBucharest, 050025Tel.: 0040/21/3130050Fax:0040/21/3130053E-mail: [email protected]; Web: www.acpart.ro

belgrade, november 2007 the national qualifications framework in higher education in romania:...

Documents

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higher education system

economic globalisation

national agency

national frameworks

global labour market

international competitiveness

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