Recommendation on the Yerevan Communiqué (04/30/2015)

On 13, 14 and 15 May, Ministers responsible for Higher Education from 47 European countries gathered in Yerevan (Armenia) to make a state of affairs of the Bologna Process. The conclusions of the Ministers have later been laid down in a Communiqué with the future vision, the priorities and the challenges of the Bologna Process. In this recommendation, the Vlor formulates comments on the lates draft version of the Communiqué (April 2015).

The Vlor formulates a number of points of attention for the Minister to take with her to the discussions in Yerevan:

• The Communiqué is not ambitious enough. It advances not enough new priorities, and keeps repeating what is already acquired;
• The Bologna Process has to communicate better the common objectives;
• The concept of student-centred learning needs to be thought through;
• Common understanding and support for the Process needs attention. Bologna is too much top-down governed. It is better to work towards a combined top-down and bottom-up approach;
• The autonomy of the institutions has to be respected;
• It is time to put emphasis again on discussions on the content (for instance on quality insurance or the recognition of foreign diploma’s);
• Bologna has to become a platform of exchange, with room for dialogue and debate;
• The Communiqué has not enough attention for lifelong learning in higher education;
• There is a huge difference between the best and the worst performing countries; actions are needed to help the worst performing countries set steps forward;
• Each higher education cycle needs to be able to keep its own identity.