ESU contributes to a global recognition of studies

PARIS – A global convention for the recognition of studies, diplomas and degrees in higher education is currently in the making following a decision of the General Assembly of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The European Students’ Union (ESU) is observing this work with great interest.

In order to take this mission forward, UNESCO held a meeting of experts to work towards the goal of making this global instrument for setting standards. ESU was invited to this meeting that was held at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris, France, from 10 to 11 July 2014.

ESU has a longstanding experience in the field of quality assurance of higher education and especially student engagement, for example through its project Quest for Quality of Higher Education (QUEST). This meeting was therefore an opportunity for ESU to bring that experience and share students’ perspectives with the experts working on the issue. Fernando Miguel Galán Palomares, ESU’s Vice Chairperson who was also the main coordinator of the QUEST project, participated in the meeting and contributed to discussions about the actual need of such a tool, the scope of it and its feasibility.

It is expected that this team will be summoned again under the auspices of UNESCO to follow-up on what was discussed now in July and take the work forward.

A proposal for a paper from Galán Palomares and Kevin Guillaume, President of the European Network of Information Centres on recognition in the European Region (ENIC), got also accepted for the second edition of the Future of Higher Education – Bologna Process Researchers Conference. This time the conference will be entitled “Europe at the Global Edge”, articulating the global dimensions of the European Higher Education Area through recognition with a comparative analysis of UNESCO’s regional conventions on the recognition of higher education.

ESU welcomes this work taking place at the global level on the recognition of studies and aims to take full part in further developing the agenda, in order to bring students’ perspectives to the forefront of the discussions of these two groups.

— END —

For more information, please contact:

Elisabeth Gehrke, ESU Chairperson: +32/479.591.499 // elisabeth@esu-online.org or Robert Hlynur Baldursson, ESU Communications Manager: +32/473.669.894 // robert@esu-online.org