Higher Education and Research


Annual meeting of the ENIC/ NARIC networks

12-14 June, Dublin

The objective of the annual joint meeting of the ENIC and NARIC Networks was to review developments in the recognition of higher education qualifications, in particular the implementation of the Council of Europe/UNESCO Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region (ETS 165) and recognition policies in the context of the Bologna Process aiming to establish a European Higher Education Area by 2010.

During the meeting the debates focused on

  • o A review of the networks’ contribution to the Bologna Process in view of the Ministerial conference held in Bergen on 19 – 20 May 2005;
  • o consideration of the recognition of European qualifications in other areas of the world on the basis of a panel debate with participants from Africa, the Arab Region, the Mediterranean Region, Australia, North America and Europe;
  • o consideration of interaction and cooperation between recognition specialists and quality assurance organisations, represented by the European Network for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA);
  • o a survey of recognition problems as perceived by the NARIC Network;
  • o the draft UNESCO/OECD Guidelines for Quality provision in Cross-Border Higher Education;
  • o future activities as concerns electronic information provision;
  • o trends and developments in transnational education and the implementation of the Code of Good Practice in the provision of Transnational Education, which is a subsidiary text under ETS 165.

Mr. Yves Beaudin (Canada) was elected President and Ms. Carmel Kelly (Ireland) and Ms. Nadežda Uzelac (“the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”) were elected Vice Presidents of the ENIC Network;

The next annual ENIC/NARIC meeting will be held in Tallinn in June 2006.

The close cooperation between the ENIC network (served by the Council of Europe/UNESCO) and the NARIC Network (served by the European Commission) is a good example of very close cooperation between three international institutions in an area of great importance to individual learners.

[Web site ENIC/NARIC]