Bologna Process in Russia

B) Study the diagram of lifelong learning contexts and discuss it in pairs or in small groups

Answer the questions

1. What do you think about higher education priorities for the coming decade? How do you understand their meaning?

2. What priorities are the most difficult to achieve?

3. Are these priorities important for science?

4. What other higher education priorities can you add to the list?

1. Do you think lifelong learning is important for scientist? Why? Why not? 2. Do you think lifelong learning contexts given above reflect the full notion «lifelong learning»? 3. What other contexts of lifelong learning can you name? 4. Is the lifelong learning an important thing for you?

1. Have you ever heard about Bologna process? Can you describe this system?

2. What is the aim of joining the countries to this process?

3. What do you think what are advantages and disadvantages of Bologna process?

The Bologna Process was a major reform created with the claimed goal of providing responses to issues such as the public responsibility for higher education and research, higher education governance, the social dimension of higher education and research, and the values and roles of higher education and research in modern, globalized, and increasingly complex societies with the most demanding qualification needs. The three priorities of the Bologna process are: introduction of the three cycle system (bachelor/master/doctorate), quality assurance and recognition of qualifications and periods of study.

With the Bologna Process implementation, higher education systems in European countries are to be organized in such a way that:

• it is easy to move from one country to the other (within the European Higher Education Area) – for the purpose of further study or employment;
• the attractiveness of European higher education has increased, so that many people from non-European countries also come to study and/or work in Europe;
• the European Higher Education Area provides Europe with a broad, high-quality advanced knowledge base, and ensures the further development of Europe as a stable, peaceful and tolerant community benefiting from a cutting-edge European Research Area;
• there will also be a greater convergence between the U.S. and Europe as European higher education adopts aspects of the American system.

Russia co-signed the Bologna Declaration in 2003. Russia is in the process of migrating from its traditional tertiary education model, incompatible with existing Western academic degrees, to a modernized degree structure in line with Bologna Process model. In October 2007 Russia enacted a law that replaces the traditional five-year model of education with a new approach: a four-year bachelor degree followed by a two-year master's degree.

The move has been criticized for its merely formal approach: instead of reshaping their curriculum, universities would simply insert a BSc/BA accreditation in the middle of their standard five or six-year programs. The job market is generally unaware of the change and critics predict that a stand-alone BSc/BA diplomas will not be recognized as "real" university education in the foreseeable future, rendering the degree unnecessary and undesirable without further specialization. Some institutions have practiced two-tier breakdown of their specialist programs for decades and switched to Bologna process designations well in advance of the 2007 law, but an absolute majority of their students complete all six years of MSc/MA (formerly specialist) curriculum, regarding BSc/BA stage as useless in real life.

Student mobility among universities has been traditionally discouraged and thus kept at very low level; there are no signs that formal acceptance of Bologna process will help students seeking better education. Finally, while the five-year specialist training was previously free to all students, the new MSc/MA stage is not. The shift forces students to pay for what was free to the previous class; the cost is unavoidable because the BSc/BA degree alone is considered useless. Defenders of Bologna process argue that the final years of the specialist program were formal and useless: academic schedules were relaxed and undemanding, allowing students to work elsewhere. Cutting the five-year specialist program to a four-year BSc/BA will not decrease the actual academic content of most of these programs.

Starting from 2002 higher education communities are getting more interested in all aspects of the Bologna Process. The discussions devoted to the problem of Russian higher education system modernization resulted in the idea that it is essential to make this system more open and therefore comparable to university education system of other countries. The reason for such an idea was the necessity to provide easy access and competitiveness of higher education in Russia and the need for preventive reaction towards the problem of education which Russia will face during its transition to the market globalization process (including the market of educational services and market of professional labour).

1. What are the three priorities of the Bologna Process?

2. How does the educational system work within the framework of the Bologna Process?

3. What are the differences between traditional educational system and educational system within the framework of Bologna Process in Russia?

a) This text is from informational booklet about a college. Choose one of two variants in every case.

1. The College welcomes part-time students, whether they are working towards a qualification or attending a recreational education class.

a) Part-time students must choose between studying for a qualification and following a recreational course.

b) Courses both for qualifications and for recreation are offered at the college.

2. If you need any advice, your first point of contact is your tutor, and you can always access other people through him or her.

a) Your tutor can arrange for you to speak to other people if necessary.

b) Your tutor will be able to advise you on anything related to your studies.

3. The College café is open from 8.30 am to 4 pm and from 5 to 8 pm. Outside these hours, a range of food and drinks is available for purchase from vending outlets.

a) Food and drinks can be bought from machines at any time.

b) Food and drinks are only available when the café is open.

4. If you wish to attend a class in English for Speakers of Other Languages, you will need to take our test before you enroll.

a) Students can only attend ESOL classes if they wish to prepare for a test.

b) Students can only attend ESOL classes after they have taken a College test.

5. A senior member of staff is on duty each evening between 6.30 and 9.30, and may be contacted via Reception.

a) A senior member of staff can be found in Reception every evening.

b) If you wish to speak to a senior member of staff in the evening, you should go to Reception.

6. Students claiming concessions for tuition fee payments must still pay the registration fees in full.

a) Certain students are allowed to pay reduced tuition and registration fees.

b) No reduction is available on registration fees.

7. Examination entry fees are additional to the tuition fee paid at enrolment on a course.

a) The cost of taking a course does not include the cost of entering for the exam.

b) The cost of entering for an exam is included in the cost of taking a course.

b)* Look at the idioms below. Each one is connected to university life in some way. Match each idiom with its definition.

1.	To fly the nest	A	Not to be aware of the realities of everyday life
2.	Saved by the bell	B	Learning from daily life and work rather than going to university
3.	To live in an ivory tower	C	To leave your parents' home for the first time in order to live somewhere else
4.	The university of life	D	Something that you say when a difficult situation is ended suddenly before you have to do or say something that you do not want to

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