The Ministerial Summit of the European Higher Education Area and the Fourth Bologna Policy Forum in Yerevan
May 16, 2015
The Ministerial Summit of the European Higher Education Area and the Fourth Bologna Policy Forum was held in Yerevan on 14-15.
The opening ceremony was held in capital Yerevan’s Karen Demirchyan Sports and Concerts Complex. It has brought together 500 participants – delegations of 52 national and 31 international organizations, 20 education ministers.
“The higher education is, obviously, the pillar upon which the knowledge-based societies are built. In this context, the Bologna reforms transformed the nature of the European higher education ensuring student mobility and establishing wide diversity of educational opportunities. It is also obvious that it is impossible to guarantee a competitive educational system without overcoming systemic problems both in Armenia and in the European Higher Education Area,” –said the RA President Serzh Sargsyan.
The solemn opening ceremony was Minister of Education and Science of the Republic of Armenia Armen Ashotyan. As reported by the press service of the RA Ministry of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan has noted that three years ago the European ministers of education unanimously voted in Bucharest for Armenia to become a center of the European educational area, and the capital city of Yerevan - the 9th capital of European educational space.
“Holding for the first time this conference in Armenia proves that the European educational area is a common value. The documents which are going to be discussed and adopted in Yerevan will have a significant impact on the development of the European educational system. Bologna process despite all its hardships and challenges, is a successful process,” - said Armen Ashotyan.
President NAS RA Radik Martirosyan and Director of ISEC NAS RA Albert Sargsyan also took part in the works of the summit.
Armenia acceded to the Bologna process back in 2005 during the Bergen Ministerial Summit, and by that it designed a new platform of cooperation opportunities with the European area and attained new mechanisms to take advantage of the best international practices.
As for the origin of the Bologna Process the start was given by “The Sorbonne Declaration”, which was signed in 1998 by the ministers of education of four countries, namely France, Germany, Uk and Italy. The aim of the Declaration was to create a common frame of reference within the intended European Higher Education Area, where mobility should be promoted both for students and graduates, as well as for the teaching staff. Also, it was meant to ensure the promotion of qualifications, with regard to the job market. In 1999 the Declaration was signed by 29 countries.
The Bologna Declaration, among other commitments, has fixed the need to hold ministerial summits once every two or three years. Procedures for holding the summit have also been set up, according to which, the summit host country also assumes the responsibilities of the Secretariat of the Bologna Process. The ministerial summits summarize the activities of the given period of time and the upcoming priorities are being set up in the communique.
