Higher Education in a lifelong learning perspective

In April 2005 the European Commission issued the communication “Mobilising the brainpower of Europe: enabling universities to make their full contribution to the Lisbon Strategy” (COM (2005) 152 Final) which explores how universities can contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon goals.

ETUC supports the idea that universities and other higher education institutions should play a stronger role in the Lisbon strategy. Higher education is and will be a major source of skills and competencies needed to increase economic competitiveness and welfare among European citizens. The economy and employment in Europe are already depending on innovations and higher skills and competencies, and will depend on them even more in the future.

The knowledge-based society represents new opportunities for everyone but it is important to ensure that it does not create new forms of social exclusion. Europe must construct a new culture of lifelong learning, enabling all citizens to acquire knowledge, skills and qualifications that are needed in order to handle the rapid evolution of society and the economy. Universities and other higher education institutions will be the major actors in the new culture of lifelong learning.

ETUC agrees with the basic ideas of the Commission communication, but we want to inquire more deeply into some questions than what has been done in the document.

1. A diversified higher education

The Commission communication systematically uses the word "universities" explaining in one footnote that it covers also polytechnics (les grandes écoles, Fachhochschule, yrkeshögskola). However, the spirit of the entire document is dedicated to universities while the other part of higher education - polytechnics for applied sciences and other higher education institutions - has been ignored.

ETUC recognises the need to develop excellence in European higher education, but we remind that it is not useful to expect from a large part of all students to become top-researchers. Nor can all higher education institutions provide top research. Different institutions have different tasks in society. From institutions more directed at applied science, like polytechnics, top-research can not and should not be expected. Too high expectations would endanger the appliance of science in these institutions.

ETUC stresses that also polytechnics should have a role in developing the European higher education policy. World class education and research is inevitably an important part of higher education, but at the same time a maybe even more important fruit of higher education is the deliverance to the labour market of well-educated students. The European Union, likewise, needs technical skills and qualifications deriving from higher technical education.

Considering the career development of employees in higher education institutions, more sophisticated forms of collaboration between institutions of top-research, institutions of applied sciences and the industry could be very important.

2. Opening up higher education to industry and to the whole society

ETUC believes that a new approach is needed, with far-reaching reforms of education and vocational training systems to satisfy the needs of individuals, society and the economy. For higher education this is a question of opening up universities to wider society. This could be new arrangements or ‘contracts’ between universities and society at large.

Since higher education plays a key role in the transformation of the society from industry to knowledge based, many actors are entering the scene: not only professors and students, but also public authorities and social partners. All actors have to adjust to this new reality: a reality with a greater number of legitimate actors representing the interests of society, wanting to give their views on and indications to the direction of the development of higher education in the future.

Research and development must be developed as a whole covering universities, polytechnics, research institutions and industry. ETUC supports the demand for national commitments to devote 3 % of GDP to research and development. Public investments are crucial when the role and quality of higher education institutions in innovation need to be improved. The role of public funding will remain crucial, and indicative of the determination of the public authorities. Furthermore, one way of developing research resources of universities is promoting the use of private investments from industry among public funding. However, attracting private investment into research must be carefully balanced with appropriate mechanisms for ensuring the academic freedom of researchers and institutions.

ETUC emphasises the importance of postgraduate training for innovation and competitiveness. Universities also need possibilities to employ researchers after they have taken their doctoral degrees. There is also a desperate need to improve the capacity to utilize results from research and development. Universities need better possibilities to be protected and to benefit from intellectual rights of research results. A major challenge in this field lies in transferring innovations to new businesses.

3. Opening up higher education in a lifelong learning perspective

ETUC reminds that higher competencies and skills are not only a question of higher education but also vocational training. Different levels of formal education must not be seen as opposite, but as complementary elements in lifelong learning. Europe needs to take two leaps simultaneously to raise the qualifications and skills of its work force. On an average the number of graduates from higher education is lower than in competing economies, but this is not the case in all member states. At the same time the number of non- or low-skilled workers is too high in Europe. Statistics shown in the Commission communication indicate a clear link between the educational level of the population and employment. There is also a correlation between the educational level of the population and the GDP in western countries.

Lifelong learning is a key to achieving the EU objectives of full employment, enhanced competences, high qualifications and worker mobility, as well as a fairer distribution of income and the balance between professional and family life. ETUC believes that this calls for a new approach, with far reaching reforms of education and vocational training systems to satisfy the needs of individuals, society and the economy. For higher education this is a question of opening up universities to the wider society. This could be new arrangements or “contracts” between institutions and society at large.

The role of lifelong learning in higher education is largely missing in the Commission communication even if it should be tackled more seriously than before. Firstly learning possibilities for non-academic adults in universities must be improved. Access to training must be opened up to motivated and talented adults who did not have the chance to study in their youth and for those who come from socially and financially disadvantaged backgrounds. The opening up of higher education institutions to adults is a necessary and important way to upgrade the skills of the work force.

Secondly higher education institutions need to increase their role in continuous training of their graduates as part of improving their attractiveness among industry and working life. The task of higher education could be divided into initial and continuous training where continuous training or adult education does not only mean postgraduate education.

EU has set a target of opening up education systems to the wider world, but ETUC finds that the role of open and distance higher education is missing from the Commission’s communication. There is no mentioning of e-Learning in the communication even if the use of new technology to support traditional, open and distance learning is a highly relevant issue.

One of the most important ways for higher education institutions to contribute in the development of a knowledge-based society is initial education and continuous training of teachers. It is also becoming necessary to undertake an urgent examination of their living and working conditions, which have been constantly deteriorating for a number of years. Higher education institutions must take on a stronger responsibility for continuous development of the skills and competencies of teachers. Special focus must be placed on teachers’ ICT skills. The level and quality of teacher training is the basis for the performance of the entire education and training in Europe.

The Commission communication presents differences in participation in higher education between North America and Europe. Many of these differences relate to differences in the higher education systems. In Europe students aim for masters degrees, but in North America shorter programmes e.g. bachelor degress are more popular. This explains the differences in participation and in the duration of studies.

When making judgements concerning the duration of study periods one must differentiate between universities and others institutions. It is not possible to conclude in general that the study duration is overlong in Europe. Especially for future top researchers longer study duration is an intensive investment, which creates a broader basis for their skills, knowledge and competences.

4. Invest in higher education

ETUC shares the concern in the Commission communication that European higher education is lagging behind its competitors in investments and in access to training.
If the Lisbon strategy is to create a knowledge-based economy and to raise the educational level of society, then Europe has to invest more in this area. If higher education and top research are to be at the heart of competitiveness of Europe, governments need to invest more in education, training and research. This increase in investment could be delivered both through national and European forms of funding.

It is obvious that a closer cooperation between the industry and higher education institutions would benefit both sides, but the responsibility of funding can not be moved to the private sector. ETUC believes it is a public responsibility of governments to ensure a high quality of and equal access to higher education. Private funding can only complement public funding.

ETUC reminds that there are different kinds of studies that seem not to be of primary interest to the industry, but which are essential for a democratic and pluralistic European society. Cultural values of higher education must also be taken into consideration.

The rate of participation in higher education of talented young people from socially disadvantaged groups is a challenge. With tuition fees member states would create even bigger obstacles to talented young people than there is nowadays. In Europe there is no evidence that tuition fees would promote better performance of institutions or students. Nor is there any evidence that tuition fees would promote a quality of provision. On the contrary, a market-based and competitive-based higher education sector may indeed hinder open knowledge-sharing between institutions, which is a crucial element in improving the quality of teaching and research.

ETUC doubts whether it is possible to find a common European model to ensure the financial resources of higher education. The need to increase private investments in higher education seems obvious, but certainly questions of tuition fees and other ways of private investment should remain at national level.

ETUC is very positive on the proposal that community funds could be used to develop performance of higher education in Europe. ETUC identifies at least two parallel needs for European funding. The first one is the development of high quality and excellence among education and research. This can also include development of new training products to meet the needs of business and working life. The second one is funding to reinforce cohesion and to rebuild or enforce structures and institutions to meet the demands of the knowledge-based economy. According to ETUC European funding should be used both for excellence and cohesion.

5. High quality of higher education

World class excellence is needed in European higher education, but ETUC emphasizes the importance of evenness of good quality. The strength of European higher education does not lay only in excellence of a few institutions but also in the high quality of the majority of institutions. ETUC stresses that policymaking must not increase the differences among universities in their financial situation. European higher education as an entity will remain as weak as are its weakest links.

Quality assurance will be more important than ever. It is needed to improve the provision of education and training. It is needed to raise the knowledge, skills and competencies of graduates. Quality assurance is needed to create mutual trust between different institutions and between higher education and work life.

6. Towards a European higher education area

The "Bologna process", which aimed to establish a European higher education area, is an important and positive process. It includes in particular the adoption of a system of easily readable and comparable degrees, a system with two main cycles (undergraduate/postgraduate) and a system of credits (ECTS), the promotion of European cooperation in quality assurance and a European dimension in higher education. The social partners, which were excluded for a long time, are now more and more involved in this process.

Although internal evaluation is the cornerstone of both quality assurance and implementation at the level of the institutions, it is not enough to implement quality assurance processes with the unique purpose of improving the quality of education internally. However indispensable the quality assurance processes are, they cannot stand alone. These quality processes must be concluded by an accountable decision concerning their results, which is the role of the accreditation processes. Accreditation processes are necessary instruments in order to secure real transparency and mutual recognition of qualifications and diplomas across Europe.

The Bologna process needs to be coherent and to chime with the Maastricht declaration on the establishment of a European qualification framework. Higher education must take part in a comprehensive process of mutual recognition of qualifications and diplomas. For it is important to have a European labour market which guarantees the recognition of qualifications in order to avoid a massive ‘brain drain’ of higher education graduates moving to other continents. The future "European Qualification Framework" will make it possible to offer this opportunity. It is a key element of realising the right of the free movement of people, and it is also an important aspect of European citizenship.

Conclusion

European universities require more cooperation between different actors and new forms of management, information, consultation and participation. The question of actors is not only a question of universities, governments and major companies. Closer cooperation with society and labour market is also needed. Stakeholders including social partners and students as well should be integrated in the governance of higher education institutions.

ETUC stresses that higher education institutions should be a major player in competitiveness and also in as promoters of equity and social cohesion among European citizens. The European challenge is to make universities serve citizens and the whole society more broadly than they do now.