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The Role of Education and Training in the European Integration Process in Bulgaria. European Studies in Bulgaria
The aim of this paper is two-fold: to present the role of education and training in the process of European Integration of Bulgaria and to put an emphasis on European studies as a major part of this process.
I. Education and Training Within the next few years Bulgaria will become part of the European Union, which by 2010 has to be the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. The National Development Plan of Bulgaria 2000-2006, which was updated in April 2003, emphasizes human resource development, involving quality improvements in education and vocational training as one of the priorities.
Bulgaria has committed itself to the Lisbon Strategy adopted by the European Council in March 2000. There is a clear link between levels of education and training and employment prospects. A European vocational education and training policy framework has been established to improve systems, make access to learning easier and raise skills levels. Achieving the goal is a real possibility for Europe, but it requires giving greater urgency to the reforms of education and training underway, especially in Bulgaria. The specificity for the education and vocational training policies is that they bring together other policy agendas including employment and social policy, information and communication technology infrastructure and research to serve one strategic goal. However, education and training are at its heart. That is the reason for the key role Universities should play in promoting quality education that provides higher levels of knowledge, qualifications and skills.
In the area of the University development some of the steps to be implemented are the following: • a fundamental reform in teaching structures; implementation of Bologna declaration; introduction of modular instruction; development of e-instruction and e-learning activities; • align education and training more with labour market needs through emphasis on vocational aspects of study programmes and closer cooperation between educational institutions and the business sector to meet the needs of local or regional labour markets; • provide core ICT skills, recognising the importance of the knowledge society, with emphasis on the most vulnerable groups in society; • develop programmes that add to the academic value of education, in such areas as communication skills, flexibility, analytical skills, team-work and interpersonal skills, strategic thinking and planning skills; presentation skills, etc. • increased funding to improve teaching conditions for students; • promotion of a new generation of scientific talent; • quality management in teaching and research; AUBG, Elieff Center for Education and Culture, Studentski grad 1700, Sofia, Bulgaria Tel.: +359-2-960 79 10, Fax: +359-2-961 60 10 http://www.aubg.bg/elieffcenter
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• promotion of mobility between various study courses by creating possibilities for specific courses in continuing education and Life Long Learning.
The overall policy in the area of education and training would address some of the existing challenges: • substantial increase of the annual per capita investment in human resources; • formulating concrete future objectives of education and training systems; • development of a framework to define the new basic skills to be provided through education and Life Long Learning; • providing means to foster mobility of students, teachers and research staff; • improvement of employability and overcoming of skills gaps.
Structural shifts in the national economy towards both knowledge-intensive jobs and knowledge-based sectors imply that a general increase in education and skill levels among the students and workforce is needed to meet employment rate targets. Increasing and adapting educational and training levels is a major issue to ensure that the present and future workforce can re-allocate from the declining to the growing sectors, to avoid skills gaps and regional mismatches and to respond to the adaptability required by the ongoing restructuring. Cooperation between companies and universities has to be enhanced. The process of developing new training standards, which respond to the needs of the economic development, has to be continued.
Although most net growth in employment is likely to be in higher-grade jobs, there will still be demand for lower-skilled jobs. Despite the continuing shift towards more knowledge-intensive jobs, most of working people will be in jobs requiring lower levels of educational attainment. This does not mean people in these jobs will not require training. The changing structure of the economy will require people to change either their jobs, or the sectors they work in, or both, implying a need to learn new skills and access to the training required. The need to provide training to the lower-skilled jobs is no less important than the need to ensure there are enough people with ICT expertise. Using qualifications and training to raise the status of traditionally low-skilled jobs - as well as making those in them adaptable and employable – has to be in the policy framework as part of improving the quality of work.
The expected increase in knowledge-intensive jobs argues for continuing the policy to raise general levels of educational attainment. This means continuing to encourage young people to stay on in education and training beyond compulsory schooling and ensuring they have the capacity and core skills to adapt to changes in demand.
New approaches to learning can also bring down its costs. Who pays for education and training is a question that needs to be addressed in more depth. There is no single solution to sharing the costs of training between government, employers, trade unions and individuals - a model could be found to address the national tradition, European best practices and economic factors. The model has to be flexible, inclusive and reliable.
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Secondary education and training are crucial for achieving higher efficiency and productivity of the economy as well. One area in which education could play a major role for the development of new businesses and more business opportunities in the economy is entrepreneurship training. Entrepreneurial attitudes and skills have to be encouraged in young people, starting from school. There is a growing awareness in Europe that initiatives should be developed in order to promote the enterprise culture, and to encourage risk-taking, creativity and innovation. Entrepreneurship is reasonably seen as a basis for growth.
In particular, the European Charter for Small Enterprises commits the EU to teach business and entrepreneurship at all school levels, and to develop training schemes for managers.(has Bulgaria joined the EU Charter for Small Enterprises If yes, I think, it would be good to mention this commitment of the Government)
The reform in education would aim at changing the attitudes and perceptions in young people through the following steps: • develop a National Strategy, policy commitment and system which will encourage strengthening the links between educational institutions and businesses, and developing the spirit of enterprise throughout the education and training systems. • The Government to activate initiatives aiming at promoting the development of entrepreneurial spirit in pupils at the level of primary school and models based on ”learning by doing” – whereby students create and run mini-enterprises. • The Government to create a framework (at national or regional level) for youth entrepreneurship education and translates policy commitment into concrete action (i.e. changing the national curriculum where the system is centralised, and/or providing assistance and incentives where schools are free to establish own programmes).
Well-educated and highly qualified work force is vital for the development of the market economy in Bulgaria and for the increased competitiveness of labour and goods. Knowledge based economy is strongly dependant on the high quality of education and is the basis for enhanced economic growth and prosperity.
II. The Role of European Studies in Bulgaria
The European Studies programmes, established all over Europe, differ significantly in scope, content, organization, concept, etc. The main distinction, however, is between European Studies and European Integration Studies. The latter are considered to be the study of the construction of the European Communities and its related institutional, legal, political, economic and social developments. This is the study of the phenomenon of the integration process as the subject of policies at the level of the European institutions and of the repercussions of these policies at the European and/or national level. The European best practice also suggests that the curriculum of university-level European Integration Studies should be interdisciplinary, i.e. the study of the interrelationship AUBG, Elieff Center for Education and Culture, Studentski grad 1700, Sofia, Bulgaria Tel.: +359-2-960 79 10, Fax: +359-2-961 60 10 http://www.aubg.bg/elieffcenter
4 between legal, political, institutional, economic and social developments in the growth of the European Union. The term European Studies is much broader, relating not only to European Integration, but also to all studies dealing with countries in Europe from a national or comparative perspective. For Bulgarian Universities the European best practices in the establishment of European Studies programmes have played a major role. European Studies have been perceived as a significant step in the accession process of the country. The development of integrated, inter-disciplinary, stand-alone programmes at universities in Bulgaria, with a curriculum covering such areas as European Community Law, European Economic Integration, the History of the European Construction Process, the European Institutional Framework, Decision-Making Procedures, the Internal Market, the Common Foreign and Security Policy, etc. has been considered as an important development in the long-term role Universities can play in the process of EU accession.
Objectives A view has been developed that the Universities could implement a strategy for the formation and training of a big enough pool of experts for the public and private sectors. There is an understanding that Universities can educate the potential recruits for Bulgarian civil service, who would have the necessary knowledge of the implications of the Acquis communautaire. Such a step is thus an essential component of education and indirectly of the public administration reform. This is in addition to the general educational objective of helping to prepare an informed public, aware of the issues at stake in the European Integration process. Investment in university level European Studies has considerable benefit for society at large, as there is a growing demand for EU expertise. This also meets the mission of most of the Bulgarian universities that are committed to prepare students to face the challenges of working and living as citizens of a united Europe and to train a new generation of leaders for Bulgaria and the region. To that end, there is an understanding that in the short term, focusing and improving the level of undergraduate programmes is as important, if not more important, than focusing on the postgraduate level. A major goal in the establishment of the European Studies programmes at the Universities in Bulgaria is to convince the students that this area of knowledge has a very strategic role and provides a horizontal approach, which allows further specialization in a number of concrete areas. The importance to establish compatibility of theory and reality is especially important for Bulgaria as an EU candidate country. Thus, European Studies have also another dimension, the task to make students believe in the European idea, the idea of a United Europe, of Bulgaria being part of this Europe.
Content The model of the EU Member States shows that in most EU Universities, special Departments of European Integration Studies exist, which facilitate the organization and implementation of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. Such Departments are of an inter-faculty and interdisciplinary nature that allows students to do cross-faculty courses. However, the institutional problems involved in setting up such Departments should not be underestimated. The optimal model for European Studies courses is that they have a compulsory part of the programmes to which they are attached and, at the
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same time, allow students to follow cross-faculty or multidisciplinary programmes concentrating on European Integration Studies. As a minimum European Studies programmes in the Bulgarian Universities include courses on European Law, the European Institutional Framework, Decision-Making Procedures, the Internal Market, and the Common Foreign and Security Policy. The staffing levels in European Studies at universities in Bulgaria are still low and their expertise spread thin. As far as still advice and lecturing expertise are needed from universities in EU countries, international cooperation projects and international networks contribute a lot to the quality of the programmes. Major elements of European Studies programmes are the knowledge of European Law and a sufficient grasp of the relevant foreign languages. These elements are vital if the 100,000 pages of legal text making up the acquis communautaire are to be both understood and implemented. It is therefore of the greatest importance that European Law is a compulsory part of any European Studies programme in whatever faculty it is taught. The same argument is valid for the language preparation of the students.
Some individual Programmes Currently almost all larger Bulgarian universities have developed programmes in European Studies or European Integration Studies. Some might be introduced here. At Sofia University1 the European Studies programme, elaborated by the European Studies Department, has come into force as from 1999/2000 academic year. The programme is the Bulgarian version of similar programmes established in the last 30 years at a number of universities and higher schools throughout the world. In the process of elaborating the curriculum, use has been made of the experience of such educational institutions as Stanford University, Trinity College, Sorbonne, College of Europe, etc. The Bachelor’s Degree studies have the duration of four years, i.e. eight terms. The acquisition of this degree is completed through a final written examination in the major and in the first foreign language. The curriculum contains 17 compulsory courses. It offers the students the opportunity to choose, after the second year, a narrower specialisation of their studies, from among six distinct modules (Law, Culture and Civilisation, Economics, Information and Media, Politics and Administration, Environment), each of which consists of at least five compulsory disciplines. Optionally, the students may also acquire a pedagogic qualification. The European Studies Programme at the American University in Blagoevgrad2 was launched as of the 2001/2002 academic year. The programme has two prerequisite courses, six required and four elective courses. Students majoring in European Studies must demonstrate proficiency in another official EU language other than English. The European Studies Major provides an interdisciplinary focus on the problems, progress, and prospects of the European integration process and trains students to take up responsible positions in the institutions of the European Union as well as in their own countries. It enhances their ability to function in a Europe-wide business environment and contributes to their understanding of the Southeast European region within a wider
1 See http://www.uni-sofia.bg/faculties/philosophy/website/eu-stud/index-bg.htm
2 See http://www.aubg.bg/eur/
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expanding Europe, combining the political, economic, historical, and legal dimensions of contemporary European society. The European Studies Programme of the Free Varna University3 likewise began with the 2001/2002 academic year. The programme is eight semesters in duration and interdisciplinary in character. Graduates are encouraged to seek professional realization in the sphere of political, social and cultural relations with European Union countries. The European Studies Programme in the Faculty of Business and Management at the University of Rousse4 has been started and implemented with additional academic expertise, provided under a number of European joint projects with Universities from Germany and other European Union Member States. It is separately introduced in this SOE-Monitor and needs not to be explained here. Further Masters’ Programmes for European Integration Studies are established at the New Bulgarian University5 in Sofia and at Plovdiv University6.
The creation of European Documentation Centers (EDCs) and computer networks at the Universities in Bulgaria is another vital step in the process of supporting the development of European Studies at the university level. There are a number of such centers in Bulgaria and other institutions, which serve the information needs in European affairs not only of the students and professors, but also of the public at large.7 Most of the European Studies programmes at the Universities provide for the participation in internship and exchange programmes, which have major influence on the academic and professional experience of the academic community. One of the ways to fund such internships or placements is through European Programmes (Leonardo, Youth, and Erasmus). Returning students act as further multipliers of the knowledge gained, experience acquired, and awareness raised.
Programmes for civil servants The Universities play a role in providing knowledge-upgrading courses for civil servants dealing with European Integration Affairs. Although Bulgaria does have civil servants with considerable expertise in European Affairs, such knowledge is not widely spread enough amongst the middle administrative layers and between central ministries and regional or local governments. Added to that is still the high turnover rate amongst civil servants. The most cost-effective approach implemented is by adapting existing courses for different needs. Such courses use distance learning, evening classes and other teaching techniques, which ensure enough flexibility in study methods and allow full- time civil servants to complete European Studies courses and programmes. In the long term, civil servants should acquire their basic knowledge about European Union affairs from compulsory courses presented as part of their undergraduate studies.
3 See http://www.vfu.bg/bg/in.php?unk=hni&step=bach&spec=evro . 4 http://www.ru.acad.bg/faculties/fbm/index.htm
5 http://www.nbu.bg/mf/programs/mpr/EI.html; http://www.nbu.bg/mf/programs/mpr/EEI.html
6 http://slovo.pu.acad.bg/evro.htm 7 See the comprehensive list in: Olga Borissova and Silvia Todorova: Country Profile – Bulgaria, in: Rafael Biermann (ed.): Europe at Schools in South Eastern Europe – Country Profiles, ZEI European Integration and South Eastern Europe Series, SEE 4, 2003, pp. 30-34.
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Learning about the European Union and its policies has to become part of general civic education and a topic addressed at the universities. Management skills (negotiation techniques, reporting and communication, language and IT skills, etc.) have to be improved through courses presented either by the Institute for Public Administration and European Integration as mid-term, and/or by post-graduate management training at university. The quality and relevance of such in-service training programmes could be improved by ensuring a proper dialogue between trainers and trained. Therefore, there is a need for the development of mechanisms to ensure the relevance to practitioners of course content, methods and materials developed/delivered at universities.
Perspectives Centers of Excellence in European Studies have to be established at University level. These Centers have to offer activities and programs aimed at promoting knowledge and awareness of European-related matters and developing European Studies and European Integration Studies as an educational field. To this effect, the Centers of Excellence could serve as a framework forum for discussion, initiation and organization of academic and professional seminars and courses on accession and post-accession issues, and act as an information center for the wider public. In so doing, the Centers would provide the appropriate mechanism to utilize expertise and know-how available in EU countries’ universities and thus promoting exchange of knowledge and best practices.
The European Studies programmes at the Universities in Bulgaria still have to build upon existing institutional capacity, expertise, regional impact, and network of partnerships towards the establishment of a lasting framework mechanism to further the development of the EU-related programmes and projects. More visibility, synergy and regional impact are the crucial elements that can increase the awareness and understanding of the European Integration process.
Dr. Olga Borissova Director of Educational Outreach American University in Bulgaria [email protected] http://www.aubg.bg/outreach
AUBG, Elieff Center for Education and Culture, Studentski grad 1700, Sofia, Bulgaria Tel.: +359-2-960 79 10, Fax: +359-2-961 60 10 http://www.aubg.bg/elieffcenter