27 Countries and Regions
powers managed to persuade uncertain student voters to academic freedom and excessive influence from government take a stand on their side. and business. I believe, given the present changing conditions, Hungarian higher education will only be able Conclusion to fulfill social needs, improve the effectiveness of its Progressing toward a professional university management operations, and meet new demands through the process of system involves some dangers: weakened autonomy and modernizing university management.
A Review of Higher Education in 1999. The act aimed to legalize the previous efforts made by Bulgarian postsecondary schools. A new system of aca- Reform in Bulgaria demic degrees was introduced, and an agency for quality Nikolay Popov assessment and accreditation of postsecondary school ac- Nikolay Popov is associate professor of comparative education at Sofia tivities was created. Efforts were made to harmonize the University, Sofia, Bulgaria. E-mail:
admissions procedures, examinations, and graduation re- Bulgaria are still difficult to predict, a number of prognoses quirements. The many obstacles to transferring between can be made for the coming decade. An ongoing contrac- schools, faculties, and specializations exemplify horizontal tion of the system is likely to occur. The number of stu- inflexibility. The structure does not respond well to stu- dents will decrease by 2 to 5 percent annually as a result of dent needs and requirements or to the needs of the labor higher education policy and demographic, financial, and market; nor does it provide a smooth transition from the societal factors. State funding of higher education will de- secondary level. There is no postsecondary education sec- cline, while state financial control will increase. The role tor consisting of vocational schools or preuniversity insti- and prestige of private postsecondary schools will improve. tutions. A serious step toward the establishment of such a Because the national accreditation process applies the same sector was taken with the July 1999 adoption of the Law standards universally, the private sector will gain greater on Vocational Education and Training, but it is too early legitimacy. The current difference between the sectors lies to predict the outcome of this initiative. Finally, a credit in the perception of student quality, since many private system has not yet been introduced encompassing all school students were once denied admission to state uni- public higher education institutions, with a few excep- versities. However, this image of private higher education tions. Private universities are more advanced in this re- will gradually change. spect, but they enroll a comparatively small number of Heated controversies between the government and the students. Ministry of Education and Science on one hand and postsecondary schools and the University Rectors’ Coun- Future Challenges cil on the other hand are inevitable, due to the government’s The Bulgarian government’s recent reform efforts have efforts to centralize policy and financing. The system will focused on the following objectives: reducing the number increasingly move toward a one-track structure. The uni- of faculties of universities and consolidating postsecondary versity sector will assume the function of preparing spe- schools, decreasing enrollments at postsecondary schools, cialists, while the college sector will have a significant role making use of policy and financial instruments, adapting in postsecondary education. specializations to reflect the needs of society, restricting A number of trends can be cited in support of this prog- revenues to postsecondary schools and encouraging reli- nosis of the system. First, in 1999–2000, 232,000 students ance on governmental financial decisions, and centralizing were enrolled at universities and only 18,000 at colleges. higher education policy. Second, in 1998–1999, university staff comprised 97.5 per- With regard to its place in the international realm of cent of the total number of instructors and college staff, education, Bulgaria must prove that an Eastern European just 2.5 percent. Almost all colleges depend upon visiting country can, despite financial and other challenges, achieve university lecturers. Third, college graduates tend to con- the standards of quality of Western European higher edu- tinue their education in part-time university programs. Fi- cation. This task is particularly important for the country’s nally, colleges have failed to develop specific programs that efforts to gain admission into the European Union. In are not available at universities. Thus, it is likely that col- March 2000 practical negotiations with the EU were initi- leges in Bulgaria will slowly disappear from the system or ated by Bulgaria and five other countries, focusing on six be incorporated into universities. Demand will increase for topics, the first two of which were “education and train- master’s degree programs. Currently, more than two-thirds ing” and “science and research.” of all bachelor’s degree holders continue their studies at Domestically, student needs and services demand at- the master’s level. tention. This includes professional guidance, counseling Bulgaria will work to establish a more flexible struc- and career services for students prior to higher education, ture for its higher education system. Flexibility is not only during their studies, and before their entry into the labor one feature of Western higher education systems that Bul- market. Methodologies for measuring student profiles, garia aspires to emulate, but it is also a present-day aca- entry qualifications, matriculation, and drop out and trans- demic requirement and an essential way to meet the fer rates must be created or improved to help universities challenges of the future. respond to the public expectations of preparing students to find their place in society. The system needs to develop a deeper and coordinated understanding that higher edu- cation is the provider of tomorrow’s leaders and politi- Internet Resource cians and, therefore, plays a pivotal part in developing a well-functioning society. For more information on issues related to international and comparative higher education, visit the Center’s Predictions website, located at: http://www.bc.edu/cihe/ While many aspects of the system of higher education in