ESU supports proposal for European database on reliable higher education institutions
“We welcome the EU Commission’s proposal for a European database on HEI’s, as an essential step towards providing more information for students who wish to be mobile. The efforts in the transparency field should be be focused on this initiative rather than on the EU ranking feasibility study”, says Ligia Deca, ESU chairperson.
ESU also supports the proposal for inclusion of topics such as student support services, mobility and student guidance within the internal quality assurance systems.
The EU Commission has recently released a report on the progress of quality assurance in higher education (HE) in Europe. This week, the EU’s Directors General for higher education met in Kalmar, Sweden, to discuss enhancing the quality of HE in Europe. Deca was there to speak about the student perspective on quality assurance.
ESU’s recently released Bologna With Student Eyes 2009 (BWSE) report indicated that there is a correlation between the degree of student participation and the degree to which the countries have managed to implement the Bologna reforms.
“Student involvement is the key to improving the trust in European higher education. No matter what the system looks like, the students are the experts on the quality of their education, and know how to improve this, due to their first hand unique experience in the learning process”, says Deca.
ESU has been actively involved in the design and promotion of the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG). ESU is also one of the 4 founders of the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education (EQAR). Last year, ESU performed the first national quality assurance agency audit (of the Romanian agency ARACIS) which was entirely carried out by a student review panel. The panel used the ESG as a reference in their work.
For more info on ESU’s views on quality assurance, see the policy paper on Quality Assurance and Accreditation and General Paper on agreed set of standards, procedures, and guidelines at European level.
