The European Credit Transfer and accumulation System (ECTS) is a burning issue on the European level.
• The new ECTS key features have been adopted in December 2007.
The basic rules of the ECTS system stay the same: "6O ECTS credits are attached to the workload of a full-time year of formal learning (academic year) and the associated learning outcomes". After intense debates, learning outcomes and workload are still recognized as the two pillars of ECTS. The new topics which are emphasized in this version are the lifelong learning and the non formal and informal learning. It is important that lifelong learning is linked to ECTS because it can facilitate the recognition mechanism, and as such develop the further education and also widen the access to Higher Education. This one page long document will find more sense and will be more understandable when the new version of the ECTS Users Guide will be ready.
• The current draft of the ECTS Users Guide
ESU is actively involved in this process with other ECTS experts and EUA. It should be ready in the middle of 2008. We are able to provide some real input thanks to the feedback of our national members and via them, or students from all over Europe. Our input will be especially valuable in the part about the student rights linked to ECTS. To be as precise as possible, we launched an internal survey in January whose aim is to create an ECTS with student eyes.
• ECTS with student eyes
The first draft of ECTS with student eyes has been sent to the board email list to welcome any comment and change. Some results were expected such as the lack of correct calculation of workload but some other results were scaring like the link between thresholds of ECTS and the award of grants. This latter one is widespread in Europe and unfair since the workload is not calculated on a proper way and in some cases students can progress in the next year of study and be prevented from having their grant. When finalizing, the ECTS with student eyes will be available in the Bologna With Student Eyes 2009 – the final version of the survey will be sent to all our members once the National Unions have had a chance to edit and comment it.
|
