Road Map for Reforms: Actions plan on Belarus admission to Bologna

"Дорожная карта": План действий по включению Беларуси в Европейское пространство высшего образования

Альтернативный доклад: Беларусское высшее образование. Готовность к включению в ЕПВО

Альтэрнатыўны даклад: Беларуская вышэйшая адукацыя. Гатоўнасць да ўключэння ў ЕПВА

Alternative Report: Belarusian Higher Education: Readiness to EHEA admission

 Belarus should be admitted to Bologna only after fulfilling a number of conditions adhering to European Higher Education Area principles.

Stage 1

Belarus admission to Bologna should be done only upon the full HEIs de-politicizing and administrative control elimination. In particular the following should be achieved:

• Elimination of any form of faculty and students punishment for participation in NGO (including non-registered) activities, political actions and political parties. HEIs must not participate in political repressions and take on the police functions
• To free HEIs administration, faculty and students from any political pressure especially during elections.
• Elimination of political parties discrimination particularly in a situation when law prohibits any political party activities in HEIs and while pro-government NGOs with political agenda continue its presence and activities there without any barrier and using universities’ administrative resources
• Establishing effective students’ self-governance without any political control from Blarusian National Youth Union (BNYU) and ideological state vertical influence
• National Students Union must become an independent organization and not a part of NBYU as well as build based on democratic norms and transparency.
• Elimination of any independent students’ organization discrimination
• To guarantee fundamental rights: freedom of speech, freedom of opinion, rights to association, ect to faculty and students

The real institutional autonomy should become a reason for and the first step in HEIs de-politicizing and state control elimination over higher education, in particular the re-installment of transparent and fair Rectors’ elections and his/her accountability to academic society.

The formal Belarus admission to EHEA could be signaled by EU travel ban cancelation for five HEIs Rectors. The reason for such decision could be based on independent monitoring results of how Belarus is observing students and faculty academic and civil rights in HEIs.

Stage 2 

We envisage that legal framework reform should dominate the second stage of Belarusian higher education transition to EHEA. The following actions should be taken:

• to develop legislation sealing European principles and standards in regards to higher education system structure, qualification recognition, quality insurance and academic mobility - to develop legal base for real institutional autonomy and academic freedom for faculty and students
• to develop legal framework for social partnership in higher education including the Board of Trustees rights and powers extension to HEIs strategic development issues
• to develop legal framework for Endowment Funds establishment and functioning
• to adopt legislation allowing public participation in higher education management
• to develop legal framework for independent Quality Assurance Agencies establishment and functioning
• to include students into quality assurance process at all levels
• to legalize students participation in decision-making process
• to legalize the guarantees of 1^st work place for all graduates’ categories instead of mandatory work placement
• to develop the legal framework allowing to extend the ‘young specialist’ rights to all graduates groups irrespectively to their study financing
• to develop legislating sealing the rights to study on any of  official state languages
• to open Belarusian language groups at HEIs

Stage 3

We expect that the following actions should be take and achieved by the end of the 3^rd stage:

• to complete the academic degree and qualification reform in accordance with QF-EHEA
• to complete quality assurance system reform in accordance with ESG
• to bring quality recognition procedures to ENIC/NARIC standards
• to establish National system for supporting academic mobility