1. What do you know about the Bologna process?

2. What are implications of those agreements and compacts that laid the foundation of single European educational space?

Read and Discuss 1.4

What do you know about the Bologna process?When and how did it start in this country?

Read this text and get to know some more facts.

The Russian system of higher education in view of the Bologna process

Though recognised for its rich traditions, Russian higher education had long remained in isolation from the world community, being under the restraints of a closed planned economy. The government that ensured a system of 'state orders' (goszakaz) introduced a range of programmes for training specialists and provided for uniform curricula in higher education institutions. The transition to the market economy and integration of the Russian Federation into the world economy forced a revision in approaches to the area of higher education.

Russian higher education embarked on a range of modernising processes such as the introduction of a multi-level educational system, competition with other Russian and foreign educational establishments, increased independence of students and the development of new educational technologies. In addition, Russian universities had to ensure a flexible response of academic programmes to market demands and needs. The vital reforms in higher education had begun long before Russia joined the Bologna process at the Ministerial meeting in Berlin in September, 2003.

State Educational Standards

In the mid-1990s, the Ministry of Education introduced the State Educational Standards for Higher Professional Education (SES, first and second versions, dating from 1994 and 2000 respectively)1,2 that set minimum requirements for the programme content and quality; the time allocated for mastering the programme and basic specialists' qualifications. Though the education system in Russia remained centralized through the governmental control over the structure and content of programs, the HEI were granted academic freedom in programme design. The current Standards define about 60-70% of programme content and have federal, national and regional (HEI) components.

The lack of freedom in programme design and choice of electives for students, strict sequence of disciplines in the curricula and 'synchronous' organisation of the learning process, insufficient time allocated for students' independent work and self-study, and weak control over assessment of achievement of learning outcomes are all among the weaknesses of the current SES that need to be eliminated.

Two-tier system

In parallel with the first version of the State Educational Standards a new Classifier (List) of educational specialisations was approved. The Classifier reflected the transition to the multi-level educational system that was initiated by the Decree of the Committee for Higher Education of the Ministry of Science, On the introduction of a multi-level structure for higher education in the Russian Federation adopted on 13 March 1992.3 In accordance with the Decree, 4-year Bachelors programmes were introduced as first cycle degree (FCD) programmes. Upon completion of FCD programmes, graduates had a choice either to enter the labour market or to continue their studies to obtain the second cycle degree (SCD). The SCD was awarded to the graduates who had completed the 5-year Diploma Specialist (one more year of studies after obtaining the FCD) or 2-year Masters programmes. Thus, the multi-level system added the new types of educational programmes to the Russian system of higher professional education: the traditional 5-year Diploma Specialist programmes coexisted with newly introduced Bachelors and Masters programmes.

Though introduced in the mid-1990s in many Russian HEIs, Bachelors programmes are still viewed as the intermediate level of specialists' training: upon completion of a Bachelors programme up to 80-90 %[dagger] of students continue their studies and enter a SCD, mainly Specialist Diploma programmes. The graduates of Bachelors programmes are willingly accepted by the employers in such areas as management, economics, law and arts. In engineering education holders of the Bachelors Degree are usually neglected by industry. The main reason is that Bachelors programmes are theoretically orientated and lack practical training (compared with the Specialist Diploma programmes).

The problem of quality assurance in higher education became crucial in the mid- 1990s, when HEIs were given more academic freedom and flexibility in programme design and the number of HEIs and programmes began to increase. In order to ensure the quality of higher education, the procedure of accreditation was implemented by the Federal Law "On Education" of 10 July, 1992.4 According to the Law, the accreditation exists as state (run by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation) and professional (run by public professional organizations). The state accreditation is an institutional one while professional accreditation deals with educational programmes.

The state accreditation system is presented by the integrated assessment of HEI aimed at conducting comprehensive analysis of HEI activities. It includes three procedures for licensing, attestation, and state accreditation, respectively.

Licensing identifies that the HEI's facilities, financial support and resources including information ones are adequate to meet the state requirements. The aim of licensing is to establish the right of HEI to provide educational services. Attestation is the establishment of equivalency between the content, level, and quality of the education offered and the requirements set by the State Educational Standards. State accreditation grants to the HEI the right of awarding state degrees and confirms the status of HEI (academy, institute or university). The Certificate of State Accreditation is issued for a five-year period.

While state accreditation has an institutional basis, i.e. evaluates a HEI in general, professional accreditation focuses on assessment of the content and quality of a particular educational programme against the accreditation criteria, which are to be higher than the requirements of the State Educational Standard. In accordance with the Federal Law 'On Education', professional accreditation lies within responsibility of public professional organisations. For the time being, the system for professional accreditation is well developed in engineering education. It is the Russian Association for Engineering Education (RAEE)5 that is responsible for professional accreditation in engineering and technology. The RAEE activities in setting up the national system for professional accreditation in engineering and technology are discussed below (see 'National system of quality assurance in engineering education').

After joining the Bologna process

In September 2003, the Russian Federation officially joined the Bologna process and became a full participant in creation of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). As well as the other members of the EHEA, the Russian Federation took on the obligation to transform the national system of higher education in accordance with main principles of the Bologna process by the year 2010.

Integration into the world education community while still preserving the traditions and achievements of the Russian system of higher education is stated as one of the fundamental principles of state policy in education.6 Joining the Bologna process and integration of the Russian Federation into the EHEA are declared to be among the priorities in modernising and developing the higher education system. To coordinate activities related to this integration of the Russian Federation into the EHEA, the Ministry of Education and Science created a special working group (the Bologna Follow-up Group) and elaborated a plan for implementation of the Bologna principles in higher professional education of the Russian New version of State Educational Standards

Though a second version of the SES was adopted a few years ago and the first specialists educated on the basis of these standards graduated in 2005, it is evident that they do not satisfy the requirements of either the academic or the professional community and need to be reviewed. The main deficiency of the current standards is that they do not respond to the requirements of the labour market: employers claim that young specialists are not adequately prepared for entering the profession. About 25% of graduates from HEIs are not employed in accordance with their original specialisation. The problem is that the Russian system of higher professional education is not responsible for the final results of the educational process, namely qualifications and employability.9