This article deals with the issue of developing an efficient study quality assurance system in higher education. The issue of quality assurance is analysed in the context of the Lithuanian higher education integration into the common European Higher Education Area. The author explores the relevance of a study quality issue, presents an overview of…

"Internationalisation", the growing border-crossing activities between national systems of higher education is losing ground to "globalisation", increasing border-crossing activities of blurred national systems which is often employed to depict world-wide trends and growing global competition. This article addresses recent issues of knowledge…

In his paper, the author--an academic and former Minister of Education for Portugal--traces the origins of the Bologna Declaration of 1999 and its follow-up studies leading to the Prague Conference of Higher Education Ministers in May 2001. He summarises the outcomes of the Prague Conference, and draws conclusions on the crucial role of…

The "General Agreement on Trade in Services" (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) covers educational trade services. Hence, all the regulations of the GATS have to be followed in the international trade of educational services. Having acceded to the WTO, China is starting to fulfill the rights and obligations as a member by…

In a previous paper the author described the present situation and recent advances regarding accreditation of engineering programmes in Europe. This paper contains an attempt at examining perspectives from a global viewpoint. While the variety of educational approaches within European higher education is to be considered a great asset of the…

In recent years, the ongoing development towards a knowledge-based society--associated with globalization, an aging population, new technologies and organizational changes--has led to a more intensive analysis of education and learning throughout life with regard to quantitative, qualitative and financial aspects. In this framework, education…

In the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which is an international comparative learning assessment measuring young people's knowledge and skills, Finland has been ranked at the top in the two rounds conducted and reported so far. In this article, the authors examine the discourses within which Finland's PISA results have been…

The main challenge facing internationalsation of higher education is retaining roots in a cultural setting while being open to new influences. Internationalsation affects every aspect of university life. An initial issue this raises is language. Universities must decide in which languages to teach and which languages will be offered, decisions…

We present a model allowing the measurement of the returns to plurilingual competences in a small open economy, considered as a reduced model of an open European labour market where different nationalities work together and therefore need to communicate either in one or in multiple languages. Our results suggest that high plurilingual competences…

Although the Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) was a significant international achievement, its adoption requires analysis and interpretation in terms of the possibilities and limitations of multilateral cooperation. The international movement for children's rights can only be conceived as the result of a system of multilateral…

The Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol (CTRP), adopted by Commonwealth member states in 2004, "aims to balance the rights of teachers to migrate internationally, on a temporary or permanent basis, against the need to protect the integrity of national education systems, and to prevent the exploitation of the scarce human resources of poorer…

The essays in this volume have been selected from papers presented at the 13th World Conference of the World Council for Curriculum and Instruction. The first WCCI Conference held in England in 1974, was followed by conferences in Turkey, the Philippines, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, Egypt, India, Thailand, Spain, Australia, and again, the…

This study aimed to identify the pathways, intentions and relevant perceptions of (non-UK) European Union (EU) students entering English higher education. It sought to identify why students wished to obtain an English HE qualification, their attitudes towards the uptake and repayment of tuition fee loans and their future career plans. Drawing on…

The role of higher education in the society of knowledge is recognised both at European and Member State levels. This level of education is called upon to make a significant contribution to achieving the Lisbon objectives in terms of growth, prosperity and social cohesion. The European Union "Education and Training 2010" work programme…

The purpose of this paper is to sum up the main lessons learned in the process of educational change over the last few decades. It consists of a series of reflections based on the information and experience acquired through international cooperation. These reflections have been inspired basically by the experience of the countries of Latin America…