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Education Conference
[please click on images to enlarge]
The 2nd Australian
- EU Roundtable on Education Training and Research
was held in Brussels on 18/19th July 2000. The list of participants
is attached as Annex 1. The Programme of Events is attached
as Annex2.
On the Australian side the Delegation was
led by Robert Horne, First Assistant Secretary, International
Analysis and Evaluation Division, Department of Education
Training and Youth Affairs. Also present was Don
Kenyon, Australia's Ambassador to the European
Union. The European Commission was represented by Brendan
Cardiff, Principal Administrator, Cooperation
with non-Member Countries, Directorate General for Education
and Culture.
(Left to Right) Professor
Ian Chubb President of the Australian
Vice Chancellors Committee and Vice-Chancellor of Australian
National University, Mme Viviane Reding, Member of the European
Commission
Responsible for Education and Culture, H.E.
Mr. Donald Kenyon, Australian Ambassador
to Belgium and the EU, and Mr.
Robert Horne, First Assistant Secretary,
International Analysis and Evaluation Division, Department
of Education Training and Youth Affairs
Mme Viviane
Reding, Member of the Commission for Education
and Culture, made a formal speech of welcome to the participants.
She touched on the first roundtable which was held in Australia
in 1997. It was here that the complementarity between European
and Australian Education policies was first discussed and
the idea mooted for closer cooperation.
Globalisation is not just about trade. It
is also about education and the opening up of international
education opportunities. Mme Reding commented on the successful
Australia-inspired UMAP (University Mobility Asia Pacific)
programme and the equally successful European ERASMUS programme.
She outlined the new E-learning and the European Schoolnet
initiatives. One area of joint participation was the Commission's
NETD@YS initiative. http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/netdays/index.html
This year, Australia's participation is centred
on a virtual trip around Australia with students from all
over the world invited to join the journey and discuss online
their different regions and lifestyles.
Commissioner Reding concluded by hoping that
the current discussions would assist in removing barriers
to further enable a greater level of exchanges between Australian
and European students and teachers and to help in building
long term bridges for the greater mobility of ideas and
learning between the citizens of Australia and Europe.
Ian Chubb,
President of the Australian Vice Chancellor's Committee
replied on behalf of the Australian Delegation and drew
attention to Australia's expertise in distance education
and agreed that the internationalisation of education was
the focus of the millennium. He remarked on the current
imbalance in student exchanges between Australia and the
European Union. Currently 10,000 European Students study
in Australia each year, while only 1700 Australians study
in Europe. It is to be hoped that this balance can be redressed
and that discussions such as these can only help in the
process of increased understanding and closer collaboration.
Mr. R. Chanterie
from Commissioner Reding's Cabinet added that future perspectives
in EU/Australian relations were good, even if a formal resolution
on Education was not immediately possible. Brendan
Cardiff summed up the results of the recent Lisbon
Summit where the strategic target for the coming decade
was to make the Union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge
economy in the world. Education is a primary factor in economic
growth and progress. Although the Community is now concentrating
on enlargement and internal Commission restructuring, nonetheless
the insistence of the Heads of Government meeting at Lisbon
on a report from Mme Reding on progress next year testifies
to the importance education and training policy now play
in the Community. As far as cooperation with non-Union countries
is concerned, Mme Reding has let it be known that she intends
to issue a Communication on strategy before the end of this
year.
There followed a series of presentations
by various Delegates starting with Robert
Horne from DETYA. M. Horne emphasised the difference
in size between Australia and the EU by superimposing a
map of Australia across the EU and by contrasting the population
size (375 million in the EU; 19 million in Australia. He
introduced the Department of Education Training and Youth
and discussed the Australian Government's objectives for
education as being responsive to student needs, decentralisation,
flexibility and lifelong learning - the latter being an
issue which is also at the forefront of European education
and training programmes. He also placed great emphasis on
the internationalisation of Higher Education which had seen
changes in the curricula and the development of links with
international institutions.
Over 80% of Australia's international students
come from Asia. Current priorities included international
mutual recognition of qualifications, student mobility,
greater access for international students and attracting
more overseas students, increased opportunities and greater
choice for students and above all, ensuring the best quality
and availability of education to the greatest number.
Professor
Chubb gave the sector perspective and outlined
the structure of universities in Australia. Key Issues for
the AVCC were finding a funding balance between government
and students, the increased commercialisation of education,
competition both national and international, fundamental
research, quality assurance and accountability.
Anders Hingel
from the Commission covered quality indicators in education
and discussed the latest report just issued by the Commission
(http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/indic/backen.html).
A new report will be issued at the end of the year on the
quality of Life Long Learning covering education, Vocational
Educational Training (VET) and "informal" education
across 35 countries.
Ginette Nabavi
discussed the European Network for Quality Assurance.( http://www.enqa.net/ ) This body is a grouping of national agencies
who exchange information and good practice and aim to enhance
quality assurance in Universities. She admitted that Life
Long Learning was something that European Universities were
just beginning to take on board. She was particularly interested
in the system of accreditation in Australia. In Europe,
self- accreditation is not the norm. She cited the 1999
Bologna Declaration the main aims of which were to ensure
comparable degrees, a system of credits, mobility of students
and educators, quality assurance and a European dimension
in education. More information on the following website:
http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/socrates/erasmus/other.html
Luce Pepin
gave a brief resume of EURYDICE http://www.eurydice.org/ The main aim of
Eurydice is to give comparable information on education
and VET to policy makers and support the European Commission
programmes. Eurydice has recently issued two major reports
- Two decades of Reform in Higher Education 1980 Onwards
and Key Topics in Education, Vol.1. Financial Support for
Students in Higher Education in Europe. Trends and Debates
http://www.eurydice.org/Publication_List/En/FrameSet.htm
Professor
Michel Jouve covered the European Credit Transfer
System which was created within Europe to facilitate the
implementation of the Socrates Programme. http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/socrates/ects.html
The ECTS aims at transparency, mobility,
academic recognition and agreement. The ECTS became a key
element in the Bologna Agreement. Australia Thailand and
Japan have a similar system called UCTS. Esmeralda Almeida Teixeira gave a resume of the
Thematics Networks programme which consists of partnerships
of Higher Education Institutions in any theme of mutual
interest with the aim to improve the quality in certain
areas of study. More information available on web site http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/socrates/tnp/index/index.html
Professor
Chris Fell from the University of NSW discussed
the Australian Qualifications Framework discussing the structure
of Australian University undergraduate and post graduate
degrees and the recognition, by other countries, of Australian
qualifications.
Angelique
Verli discussed the issue of Life Long Learning
and the way that European Universities are responding to
the issue http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/socrates/erasmus/other.html
(http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/socrates/adult/home.html)
The role of the Commission here is to encourage cooperation
between the various institutions. Inge
Knudsen, Director of the Confederation of EU
Rectors Conference (http://www.crue.upm.es/eurec)
spoke about the Bologna Declaration and various aspects
of European Education including the Diploma Supplement http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/recognition/index.html
Maruja Gutierrez
spoke of the most recent EU initiative, "E-Learning".
The key slogan here being "Education is the challenge,
Technology the opportunity". There are 4 action lines
to e-learning, viz, provide the infrastructure; provide
the training to the teachers; upgrade and ensure European
content of software; and network the centres. Professor
Kerry Kennedy from the University of Canberra
gave a resume of some of the problems arising from the onset
of E-Learning in Australia. One of the main problems being
that it was expensive and ensuring compatibility and comparability
was difficult. Another issue was the expectation that new
students had both the necessary IT skills and the physical
hardware, i.e. possession of a computer. This was not proving
to be the case. The point was made that far from the Internet
delivering education to the masses, it was, in fact, denying
access. There was also the technical problem of internet
speed.
Professor
Chubb and Brendan Cardiff wrapped up Day One by drawing
together the various threads woven by all the presenters
and point out various areas of complementarity. Both "sides"
had their strengths and weaknesses and that there was certainly
scope for collaboration in many areas.
(left) Participants
outside Chateau Sainte Anne
Day Two concentrated on Vocational Education
and Training (VET). The Head of the Vocational Training
Policy Unit, Gordon Clark opened the discussions by giving
a run down on the development of VET within the EU.
A new Communication on the subject is due
out in October. VET in Europe is not just about producing
skills for the job market but is also about social development
and elimination of social exclusion. There are 6 key messages
in the EU's VET policy - all citizens must have access to
skills to increase employability; learning to learn; new
delivery methods; transparency in participation and outcomes;
access to professional guidance; and availability of VET
through local centres. Jim
McMorrow, CEO of the Australian National Training
Authority discussed the Australian system whereby industry
is responsible for setting the outcomes and the education
sector is responsible for delivering the training.
Margarida
Gamiero discussed the European Commission's main
Vocational Training programme, Leonardo. (http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/leonardo.html)
and Carlo Scatoli,
gave a brief presentation on the European "EUROPASS"
initiative which is a new initiative to remove obstacles
to mobility in the field of vocational training and to increase
transparency. The EUROPASS is essentially a record of work
related training courses carried out across the 15 Member
States of the EU. http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/europass/index-en.html
Pierre Mairesse
gave the last presentation of the morning on the Youth Programme
(http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/youth.html).
This is one EU programme that is open to all countries and
one in which in theory at least, Australians could participate.
The programme covers youth exchanges, voluntary service
across Europe, promotion of inter-cultural learning and
provides support measures for training courses for youth
workers etc.
The group
at lunch, Chateau Ste Anne (right)
The afternoon was devoted to Research and
Development and the Fifth Framework Programme in Particular.
More information on the 5th Framework Programme can be found
on the following websites: http://www.eu.int/agreements/s&t.htm
and http://www.cordis.lu
The Roundtable came to a close with both
sides expressing their appreciation to the various presenters.
A great deal of information had been exchanged which could
only lead to greater understanding on both sides. The Australians
expressed a great interest in the European Commission's
ERASMUS programme http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/socrates/erasmus/home.html)
which includes the Member States of the EU, the countries
of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the pre-adhesion,
membership application countries of Central and Eastern
Europe.
Ms Nicole
Versijp made a brief presentation on the successful
EC-US and EC-Canada programmes for Cooperation in Education
and Training. (http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/canada/canada.html)
and (http://www.ec.europa.eu/education/ec-usa/usa.html).
It was decided that although neither side
was ready to discuss a more formal arrangement, the lines
of communication had been opened and that they would remain
so, both through the Delegation of the European Union
to Australia and New Zealand in Canberra and the Australian
Mission to the European Commission in Brussels.
During Commissioner Reding's forthcoming
visit to the Sydney, she will be meeting with a Delegation
from the International Development Agency of the Department
of Education Training and Youth and several Government Ministers
including Dr David Kemp,
Australia's Minister for Education.
This will be the first occasion Commissioner
Reding and Dr Kemp have met and will be an opportunity for
both to "break the ice" and discuss, on an informal
basis, their respective portfolios and possible areas of
future cooperation.
Chateau Ste Anne, which the group visited
during the 2nd Australia-EU Roundtable on Education, Training
and Research.
-
Wine
Agreement In 1994
the EU and Australia concluded an Agreement to regulate
and promote the bilateral flows of trade in wine. One
section of the document sets out the oenological practices
and processes authorised by both parties with a view
to protecting public health. A second section provides
reciprocal protection of wine names and related provisions
on description and presentation of wines. The latter
involves the protection of geographical indications
and traditional expressions. Overall the aim is to protect
the relevant intellectual properties in wine terms and
to prevent fake representation to consumers. At the
meeting of the two parties in Perth in June 1999 final
identification of the transitional periods of time were
agreed during which the Australian industry will wind-up
use of certain descriptive terms and substitute alternatives.
The partners are at present engaged
in defining the actual terms of this final agreement.
Trade in wine is an important
aspect of the bilateral relationship, with Australian
exports to the EU worth $A612m in 1998/99 or 57% of
the value of all wine exports. Not only is the EU Australia's
major market but the EU is also the major supplier of
wines to Australia, a trade worth $A80m in 1997/98,
or 80% of total imports. (full
text)
-
List
of agreements and exchanges of letters
-
Joint
Statement on the Information Economy
- Australia-European
Commission, Ministerial Consultations, Joint Communique,
Brussels, 18 April 2002
Lynne Hunter
Adviser
Delegation of the European Union to Australia and New
Zealand
Phone: 02 6271 2742
Fax: 02 6273 4445
email: lynne.hunter@ec.europa.eu
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