Regional network on Qualifications Frameworks in South East Europe

Launching meeting: Cetinje, 8-9 July, 2008 2nd meeting, Ljubljana 29-30 June, 2009 : SWOT ANALYSIS SUMMARY STRENGTHS Legal obligation/law support Connection to bologna process Good organization and stakeholders involvement WEAKNESSES Decision making discontinuities Comparability of “old” and “new” programmes Availability of expert and staff support OPPORTUNITIES CoE and EU support and experience Regional comparability THREATS - Unequal involvement or disagreement of stakeholders -Insufficient regional cooperation

2nd meeting, Ljubljana 29-30 June, 2009: Common challenges: · Relation between the old/new systems · Relation between VET and HE programmes · Terminology · Involvement of different stakeholders · Compatibility of the degrees · How to move from declarative approach to practice · The development of QF LLL · How to assure international recognition of QF

For the development of the network: · To set up a coordination core group – 1st meeting 26th September, Ljubljana (CRO, SI, CoE) · To find mechanisms to regulate the work of the network – yearly thematic meetings on common open questions, core group meetings twice/year, e-communication · The support and expertise of the Council of Europe is vital · The importance to provide a common platform · Financing of the work of network should be considered also through TEMPUS programme and Bologna promoters activities · Work on the relation between ECTS- students workload · To provide information on Higher Education reforms in all countries: o To compare the visible structures o To see through QF development what are the similitude and the differences · To promote cooperation through different projects on QF

Next steps: · Short presentations of the actual stage of HE systems in the countries concerned, stressing the following points: o The relation between “old” and “new” systems; what are the difficulties met o On which level some “old” diplomas are placed in the QF development o What are the bridges between HE and VET? · Exchange of good practices on how to involve different stakeholders within the process · Improvement of recognition practice due to QF development

The core group meeting, 26th September 2009, Ljubljana First themes and open questions for next meetings: Workshop on successful stakeholders involvement Positioning of “magister znanosti” Positioning of short cycle programmes Role of ECTS and research work at 3rd level (PhD) Different duration/credits of degrees