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Guidelines Guidelines These guidelines have been prepared by the ACE board according to its decision in its Riga meeting on August 25, 2000. The reason for preparation of such guidelines is as follows. Academic credential evaluators and admissions officers have a specific interest in the "country sessions" of EAIE conferences. Credential evaluators need information, which would help them to locate the an individual qualification of the country in question in the overall framework of that country's educational system in order to then be able to compare seek comparable qualifications in their own education system. The intention of ACE board was to create a framework for "country sessions" which would make these sessions maximally useful for credential evaluators. General remarks A country session is maximally useful to credential evaluators if it: Presents the (higher) education system of the country in question in the context of its historical background Allows participants to get clear picture of how the degrees, diplomas, qualifications logically follow from one another In a model "country session" the following is covered: Short background information on the country Historical and geographical background of the country (especially, if the country is less known to the session participants. In any case area, number of inhabitants, main ethnic groups, and religions, type of government, key historical dates, and main economic activities should be shortly presented. Legal background of the education system Main laws regulating education and their key features could be (shortly) described. Information on educational system Prior to listing the information, which should be included, it is worth mentioning that a clear and logical scheme of the duration system is highly useful so that the presenter can show the pathways of subsequent progressing from one qualification to another. Secondary education The following issues could be covered: overall duration of secondary education (differences between types of secondary education) types of secondary education a) providing, b) not providing access to higher education, general secondary education - are there sub-types like science-, commerce- and humanities-oriented in relation to admission to higher education. Access to higher education Are all holders of secondary education certificates automatically eligible or are there access requirements additional to holding of general education certificate? Admission to higher education: What are the procedures of selection? Higher education system Is it unitary or binary (i.e. is there a distinct "non-university type" of higher education? If the system is binary, what are the possibilities of the "non-university" type graduates to continue studies at higher level(s)? Is the education system one-tier or two-tier? What is the (planned and practical) duration of studies for each type and level of degrees? To admission of what further studies is the holder of each type and level degree/qualification entitled? What can the holder of each level degree/qualification do in the labour market? Higher education quality assurance- how is it carried out in the country? Is there a formal "state recognition" of institutions and programmes? How to know if a degree/ qualification is recognised in the issuing country? Doctoral level Is there one type or several types of doctoral degrees? If there are several, what is the interrelation among them? Are they "first" and "second" doctoral degrees where the first is a prerequisite for award of the second? Or do they exist in parallel? And, if so, what are the formal and practical differences? What are the access requirements to doctoral studies? Can "non-university" graduates be admitted and on what conditions? If university degrees are two-tier; is it possible to start doctoral studies from the first degree? How long is the (planned and practical) duration of studies? Is it possible to "just" write a thesis based upon research or are additional studies at doctoral level mandatory? Statistical data Statistical data should not be the main content of a country education system session; however, some statistical information is useful. Regarding secondary education the following data could be presented: proportion among the number of students in different types of upper secondary education, share of general (and vocational) secondary graduates continuing studies at tertiary level Regarding higher education: total number of higher education institutions with a breakdown by types (and possibly number of recognised and non-recognised ones), total number of students and their breakdown by levels and "university" and "non-university" types, the share of students in the appropriate age group, the dropout ratio. Session handouts The most useful handouts of a country session are: a diagram of the education system, even better, if some description is added, a list of state-recognised institutions or address of the appropriate information source, any sources of further information. The above statistical data would be an asset.
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