MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE

1. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE WHY NQF FOR THE HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA? Snezana Bilic-Sotiroska, Ph.D candidate Head of Department for Science and Technological Development

2. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE Content of the presentation: Main aim of NQF; Bologna provisions; National legal aspects Comparative analyse of NQF in higher education system before and after Bologna; Strong points in the development of NQF; Positive external factors; Negative role of the external factors; Open questions.

3. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE MAIN AIM OF NQF Provide quality assurance in higher education and facilitate recognition (international recognition of national qualifications); Promotion of Life Long Learning concept (student progress through the education process becomes easier and more transparent, the mobility of students and work force is facilitated and accelerated).

4. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE BOLOGNA PROVISIONS “Ministers encourage the member States to elaborate a framework of comparable and compatible qualifications for their higher education systems, which should seek to describe qualifications in terms of workload, level, learning outcomes, competences and profile. They also undertake to elaborate an overarching framework of qualifications for the European Higher Education Area”.

5. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE BOLOGNA PROVISIONS “The overarching framework for qualifications in the EHEA, comprising three cycles (including, within national contexts, the possibility of intermediate qualifications), generic descriptors for each cycle based on learning outcomes and competences, and credit ranges in the first and second cycles. We commit ourselves to elaborating national frameworks for qualifications compatible with the overarching framework for qualifications in the EHEA by 2010, and to having started work on this by 2007”.

6. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE Comparative Analyse of NQF in Higher Education System before and after Bologna

7. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE NATIONAL LEGAL PROVISIONS LAW ON HIGHER EDUCATION (Official Gazette Of The Republic Of Macedonia no. 35/08); THREE CYCLE SYSTEM; DEGREES: BACHELOR (180 – 240 ECTS), MASTER (60 -120 ECTS), DOCTORAL (MIN 3 YEARS), REGULATED PROFFESIONS; DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT; RECOGNITION OF DEGREE / NATIONAL QUALIFICATION FRAMEWORK; QUALITY ASSURANCE SYSTEM.

8. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE STRONG POINTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NQF Defining reference levels in accordance with Bologna principles, following the existence of „new“ education degrees, Acceptance of EQF and QF EHEA as the main reference element, Good communication withall stakeholders, Good information campaign

9. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE WEAK POINTS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NQF Focus still more on duration of studies, and not on the learning outcomes, „New“ degrees versus „old“ degrees, Non-formal and informal education,

10. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE POSITIVE EXTERNAL FACTORS Guidance for all education degrees Good comparability of education degrees obtained in MK to those obtained in other countries Increased readability and transparency of degrees Provision of information for students and employers Instrument for curriculum design and quality assurance

11. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE NEGATIVE ROLE OF THE EXTERNAL FACTORS The basic criterion both for employers and other stakeholders is still duration of studies, and not learning outcomes Regional cooperation should be reinforced

12. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OPEN QUESTIONS Different duration of bachelor studies at the University Undefined absorption capacity of employment market The issue of old diplomas issued at the University Regulated professions Alignment with the old NQF

13. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE Thank you for your attention! Ministry of Education and Science Department for Higher Education Department for Science and Technological Development www.mon.gov.mk