Education and training in Europe
‘Europe is not only that of the euro, of the banks and the economy: it must be a Europe of knowledge as well.’ Such was the wish expressed by the Ministers for Education of Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom when they signed a joint declaration on harmonisation of the architecture of the European higher education system in Paris on 25 May 1998.
Education and Training for Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship in higher education, especially within non-business studies
On 14 January 2005, the Commission launched the ‘eTwinning’ initiative with the aim of strengthening and developing school networking. In particular, a European school twinning project should enable every school in Europe to establish a partnership with another school. This will encourage language learning and intercultural exchanges, and make pupils aware of the multilingual and multicultural European social model.
Bologna process: establishing a European area of higher education
Forty countries have signed up to this ambitious project to build a common future for all students, the European workers of the future.
What is the Bologna process?
It is a system of academic grades that are easy to interpret and internationally comparable, so as to increase mobility opportunities for students, teachers and researchers. The process concerns all forms of higher education (universities and other higher education establishments, colleges of art, schools of architecture, etc.). It therefore goes much further than the existing European exchange programmes, such as Erasmus, that can only be accessed by a certain category of student. It also facilitates the recognition of qualifications across Europe.
By 2010, all universities participating in this process will have to:
- have adopted a three-cycle system;
- have adapted to the European ‘Bachelors/Masters/Doctorate’ standard: three, five or eight years of post-secondary study.
Open Learning Environment
