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Flanders
For the purposes of this wiki we take Flanders to be the semi-autonomous and predominantly Flemish-speaking region in the north of Belgium excluding the Capital Region (of Brussels). The topic of "what is Flanders really" seems to be extremely controversial and likely to be impossible for a non-Belgian to understand, even the issues let alone "the truth".
Flemmish education policy
As a result of the constitutional reform in Belgium the Dutch speaking and the French-speaking higher education systems were separated. The Flemish government wanted to do things ‘differently and better’. This led to a new higher education legislation in the early 1990s and to a policy based on the principles of deregulation, autonomy and accountability . In general, there are two types of institutions: universities and university colleges or "hogescholen".
The Flemish government wanted to treat all institutions on an equal basis. New legislation made the former state universities autonomous and gave them almost the same responsibility as the ‘free’ universities. In terms of deregulation, autonomy and accountability the same principles were introduced for the hogescholen. This led in conjunction with the merger operation in 1995 to a fundamental change in the relationship between the government and the hogescholen. Former centralised and detailed regulations were replaced by a management regime aimed at achieving a balanced combination of broad autonomy and responsibility for the hogescholen. The higher education regulations as a whole – universities and hogescholen – became more integrated. The previous government wanted to bring the decree on universities (1991) and the decree on the hogescholen (1994) into line with each other without affecting the nature of the university and college education. This integration process has been stimulated even more by the 2003 legislation on the restructuring of higher education in order to implement the Bologna process.
In terms of policy preparation the following organisations play an important role in Flanders:
• The Flemish Education Council (Vlaamse Onderwijsraad - VLOR) was founded in 1991. It is the advisory and consultative body for all educational matters. All draft decrees in the field of education must be submitted to the VLOR. Furthermore, the VLOR can give advice to the Flemish government on its own initiative. The VLOR consists of a general council and separate councils for primary, secondary, higher and adult education. The general council is composed of representatives of the organising bodies, school staff, parents and socio-economic organisations, university experts and Education Department representatives.
• The Flemish Socio-Economic Council (Sociaal-Economische Raad van Vlaanderen - SERV), composed of representatives of employers and employees, gives advice on all draft decrees, including those in the field of education. The SERV plays an important role in the relationship between education and the world of work. • The Flemish Interuniversity Council (Vlaamse Interuniversitaire Raad - VLIR) is an autonomous body of public utility with its own corporate status. It acts as a defender of the universities and as an advisor to the Flemish government on university issues (consultation, advice and recommendations).
• A similar body has been established for the institutions of non-university higher education - the Flemish Council for hogescholen (VLHORA). It was founded during the academic year 1996-1997 and represents the hogescholen. The Council gives advice and makes proposals to the Flemish government with regard to the education in the hogescholen. At the same time it can provide consultation among the hogescholen
• The National Union of Students in Flanders (VVS) is the umbrella organisation of student unions at Flemish universities and hogescholen. The National Union of Students in Flanders gives advice at the request of the Flemish government.
Flemmish higher education system - Universities and Polytechnics
Remark: Polytechnis are called University Collges or "Hogescholen" in Flanders.
On 4 April 2003 the Flemish government approved the Decree on the restructuring of higher education in Flanders. A new qualification structure was introduced. One-cycle programmes have been converted to the level of bachelor’s degree. Two-cycle programmes in hogescholen are academic education: academic bachelor courses and master courses in association with a university. The system should be regarded as a binary system: professional higher education at the ‘hogescholen’ and academic higher education at the universities and at the hogescholen (associations). The ‘hogescholen’ can award academic degrees in cooperation with a university. Still the universities have the monopoly of awarding doctor’s degrees.One of the consequences is that co-operation between universities and hogescholen is increase considerably with the development of associations. Universities and university colleges cooperate intensively, especially in the field of research, in the Associations. These are formed by one university and at least one university college. As a third kind, the Flemish government has recognised a number of "registered" institutes of higher education, which mostly issue specialised degrees or provide education mainly in a foreign language. The educational provision in Flemish tertiary education is laid down in the Higher education register that contains all the accredited higher education programmes in Flanders. There are 39 recognised Higher Education Institutions. The Universities and Colleges are divided into 5 associations. The registered Institutions are not a member of an Association. A few tertiary education institutes are not regulated by the corresponding laws on tertiary education. The Faculty of Protestant Theology in Brussels and the Evangelical Theological Faculty (in Heverlee award degrees in Protestant Theology. They are recognised as private institutes. Whatever their origin, all institutions mentioned above are officially recognised by the Flemish authorities. The following postgraduate institutions have the same status:
- Institute of Development Policy and Management ,
- Institute of Tropical Medicine ,
- Vlerick Leuven-Gent Management School
Please see the table belw, for a complete overview:
In Flanders, the following higher education courses are provided:
• Bachelor courses( Professional bachelor courses and Academic bachelor courses)
• Master courses
• Further training programmes
• Postgraduates and updating and in-service training courses
• Doctoral programmes
Higher professional education exclusively consists of professionally oriented bachelor courses, which are only organised at colleges of higher education. Academic education comprises bachelor and master courses, which are provided by universities. Also colleges of higher education belonging to an association are allowed to provide academic education.
Adult education
In Flanders there are several publicly funded education, training and developmental provision schemes for adults. Within part-time adult education, 3 different actors can be distinguished:
- a continuing education (OSP): with more than 250,000 course participants, continuing education is the most important pillar in adult education. Continuing education is provided in centres for adult education which are recognised and funded by the authorities.
- b supervised individual study (BIS): BIS has discontinued. It is however published in our research list.
- c adult basic education: the 29 centres for basic adult education try to provide a broad and varied range of basic education programmes: languages, mathematics, social orientation, ICT, introduction in French and English and stimulation and student counselling activities.
- In contrast with continuing education and BIS, courses in basic education are free of charge.
Lifelong learning
On 31 March 2003, the Training and Alignment Information Service /Dienst Informatie Vorming en Afstemming (DIVA) was launched. DIVA co-ordinates the educational provision for adults in Flanders. DIVA facilitates the co-operation between the policy fields Education and Training, Employment, Culture and Economy. DIVA’s partners are the educational networks, Flemish Employment and Vocational Training Agency (VDAB), Flemish Institute for the Self-Employed (VIZO) and Support Centre for Socio-cultural Work (Socius). These partners represent respectively adult education (including further higher education, OSP, basic education, BIS and DKO), the training courses set up by VDAB, by Syntra and socio-cultural adult work. An awareness-raising campaign was launched: http://www.wordwatjewil.be (“Become what you want”)
Higher education reform - The Bologna Process
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The Bologna process has stimulated Flanders in a move towards greater internationalisation. The concept of internationalisation has changed from a focus on the individual to a focus on the ‘system level’, namely the formal structures of higher education. A Flemish credit system based on the ECTS and a Diploma
Supplement were already implemented in the early 1990s. More recent changes are:
- implementation of a bachelor and master structure,
- accreditation system in co-operation with the Netherlands,
- more flexible study paths.
Administration and finance
The Flemish higher education system is predominantly a public funded system. The Ministry of Education and Training directly funds the HEIs. There is no intermediate independent statutory body.
The public funding system distinguishes three main funding streams:
- the first flow: a core recurrent funding for teaching and research which covers costs of staff, material, equipment, buildings and social facilities of students;
- the second flow: an additional funding for basic research and a funding for basic research allocated by the research council and a funding allocated by the federal state (research networks of universities of both linguistic communities);
- the third flow: public funding for specific research programmes developed by the government, other public organisation, EU, cities and the provinces: such as for justice, social security, energy, sustainability, …. There are also funds for policy oriented research linked to the main policy domains.
Tuition fees:
Generally speaking the tuition fees are low compared to many other countries: - maximum 100 euro for students from the lower socio-economic background (students who are eligible for a grant – about 25% of the student population); - maximum 515 euro for the other students; there is a deduction for students whose parental income is a little bit above the eligible income limit).
The HEIs can raise tuition fees for non-EU students and for advanced master study programme in order to cover the costs of attracting specialists (these programmes are also internationally oriented).
Every student who qualifies for study financing can be supported financially for two bachelors, a master, a preparation programme, a bridging programme and a teacher training programme. As study paths have become more flexible, so too has study financing been made more flexible. A system of study credits has replaced the study year system. The study financing amount is linked to the number of study credits for which the student is enrolled. The new decree extends the possibilities of taking study financing beyond Flanders into the wider Higher Education Space. In the past funding could only be taken across the border if students opted for foreign studies that were not provided in Flanders.
Quality assurance - Accreditation
Assessing the quality of the services that universities provide has become an overriding priority. Quality assessment in Flemish higher education is organised at different levels, i.e. at the meta-level and within individual institutions. Quality assessment is organised for each of the services offered by tertiary education institutions: teaching and (in the case of universities) research. Furthermore, as has already been mentioned, although higher education institutions have been granted discretionary powers, the government retains its controlling power. Even in the recent period of greater autonomy, the Court of Audit has performed thorough and comparative “thematic” checks on the quality of institutional management on a regular basis.
In exchange for greater autonomy Flemish universities and hogescholen have implemented a system of internal and external quality assessment. The aim is to improve the quality of study programs. The
government has made the institutions themselves responsible for creating the appropriate means for doing this. The so-called “visitations” consist, firstly, of a very important self-assessment (on the basis of a
detailed guide) and secondly, the visit and assessment (on the basis of interviews) by an external commission which draws up the final report. As laid down by decree, a visitation for each study program
must take place at least once every 8 years. For universities, the first round was completed in 2001; a new round started in 2002 (for non-university tertiary education, a new round started in 2004).
Recommendations are, generally speaking, acted upon quite well by the individual institution in question.
At the institutional level, the quality assessment with regard to teaching primarily concerns the evaluation of the individual courses.
The students’ assessment of teaching performance takes the form of a standardised questionnaire, to be filled in anonymously, which provides information regarding, for example, the teaching materials and methods used, the match between the content and the final objectives of the course, the teaching style, etc. Finally, the students may add general comments (such as suggestions, strengths and weaknesses of the course) by means of open questions.
Although the educational authorities in Flanders are greatly in favor of collective research assessments,quality assurance with regard to research is at present mainly the responsibility of the individual
universities. The Department of Education has, however, recently commissioned an evaluation of the universities’ research management and quality assurance processes, while the universities themselves were asked to report on their experiences with regard to the research policy management of the authorities.As laid down by decree, a systematic research assessment by each individual university, resulting in a public report, must be carried out at least once every 8 years. From 1999 onwards, most universities have been carrying out bibliometric studies on research output on the basis of publications and its visibility in the natural and (bio)medical sciences. Recently, pilot studies have also been commissioned in some domains of the humanities and social sciences (linguistics, economics, law). Furthermore, self-assessment reports at the level of individual research teams, supplemented by data on commissioned research and output of the teams, are regularly used in internal and external peer reviews. Only one university (Free University of Brussels – VUB) is at present running a systematic research assessment program consisting of complementary bibliometric studies and on site peer review.
Country's HEIs in the information society
Towards the information society
Information society strategy
Virtual initiatives in HE
This is the process to create the European Higher Education Area and should facilitate students and graduates' mobility across Europe.
The Bachelor-Master structure is one of the most visible results of the Bologna Process. The higher education degree system actually consists of three cycles. The first cycle are the Bachelor's programmes, the second cycle are the Master's programmes and the third cycle are the Doctorate or PhD programmes.
References
OECD THEMATIC REVIEW OF TERTIARY EDUCATION- Country Background Report – Flemish Community of Belgium
> Belgium