Between 29 and 30 of May in Tirana was held the conference of the ministers responsible for higher education in the European Higher Education Area. Valéria Csépe represented the Hungarian Accreditation Committee in the Hungarian delegation lead, by state secretary Balázs Hankó.
At the conference attended by more than 300 participants, discussions were held in plenary sessions and thematic sections about the fulfilment of key commitments set out in the 25-year Bologna Process and the related implementation challenges. The Tirana Communiqué, adopted on May 30 2024, draws attention to the need for the full implementation of the already developed Bologna instruments. It also commits to the EHEA’s core values (autonomy, independence, integrity, mobility) as well as to strengthening the preparations for current challenges of the 21st century (eg. artificial intelligence); The Communiqué calls on the E4 organisations (European Students’ Union – ESU, The European Association of Institutions in Higher Education – EURASHE, European University Association . EUA, The European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education – ENQA) to review the ESG (Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area), the fundamental document used in internal and external quality assurance for EHEA member states, and to prepare the amendment proposal by 2026. Based on the decision of the Tirana Ministerial Conference, starting from June 2024 the Bologna Follow-Up Group (BFUG) Secretariat, which organizes the tasks of monitoring the Bologna implementation, will be hosted by Romania and Moldova.
The Tirana Communiqué is available here.
More than ever before, the conference in Tirana focused on modern, flexible and fit-for-purpose quality assessment and assurance (accreditation). A highly attended session addressed the topic, with members of the ENQA Board and the President of the MAB also participating. The Bologna Process Implementation Report has a separate chapter on quality assurance of each member state. Clear evidence confirms that Hungary’s accreditation status is at the forefront, stronger than ever before, with the MAB ranking highly on all indicators (EQAR scorecard).
The Bologna Process Implementation Report is available here.
