Recently the Ministers of 46 countries have signed a statement in which they say that there are a couple of ‘initiatives’ to arrive at ‘multidimensional transparency’. Such transparency may help universities and ‘hogescholen’ ‘discover and compare each other’s strengths’. The Ministers advocate good data and sensible indicators.

This is how the Ministers embroider on the Bologna declaration dating ten years back. Mobility will continue to be the spearhead for the future as well. In 2020 at least twenty percent of European students must have followed part of their education abroad: this implies that the current number must be doubled. More mobility among students, but also among staff members, will increase the quality of European education and research, as the Ministers think. Likewise, the promotion of lifelong learning and finding new sources of funding will remain high on the agenda.

In their statement the Ministers also subscribe to the importance of research at all levels of higher education. The HBO Council is particularly pleased with this item. “The statement is an incentive to carry on with our plans to anchor the learning of research skills more firmly within the HBO Bachelor program”, says chairman Doekle Terpstra.

In the margin of the conference the Education Ministers of the Netherlands and Flanders made their own agreements. The neighboring countries promised from now on to recognize each other’s diplomas automatically. (HOP)/.