In the run up to the 2024 Bologna Process Ministerial Conference, ENQA is pleased to share its message to the Ministers of Education of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA). In the message, ENQA highlights quality assurance as a prominent success story of the EHEA, while recognising that there is still work to be done, both in meeting existing commitments and in ensuring that our shared framework remains fit-for-purpose in the changing higher education environment.
In this context, ENQA calls on Ministers to take action on three key issues:
- Ensure that national legislative frameworks allow quality assurance agencies to operate in compliance with the ESG
- Enable international collaboration by reducing national-level barriers in quality assurance and higher education while enhancing transparency
- Maintain the relevance and added value of external quality assurance by allowing quality assurance agencies to implement flexible and enhancement-oriented approaches
These recommendations address the topics raised by quality assurance agencies as being crucial to enable them to meet European level expectations; provide the accountability and transparency necessary to support recognition, mobility and international cooperation; and support higher education institutions and students with responsive and enhancement-led approaches to external quality assurance. ENQA members and affiliates regularly cite national legislation as being a significant barrier in achieving these aims — therefore, action by national authorities is key to success.
We thank the whole ENQA community for their input in preparing the message.