Consecuencias para la salud y criminalidad relacionada a las drogas

Students need to be clea r ab ou t th e req u irem en ts o f th e p ro g ra m m es to w h ich they

are co m m itted , a n d ab ou t th e lev e ls o f a ch iev em en t ex p ected o f th em . 10.2

Employers want h ig h er ed u ca tio n to b e m o re exp licit about what they can expect from

candidates for jobs, whether they have worked at sub-degree, degree, or postgraduate level.

10.2

E xistin g a rra n g em en ts fo r safegu ard in g stan d ard s are in su fficie n tly clear to carry c o n v ictio n with those who perceive present quality and standards to be unsatisfactory.

10.2

We believe th e re is m u ch to b e g a in ed by greater e x p lic itn e ss and clarity about

sta n d a rd s and th e lev e ls o f a ch iev em en t required for different awards.10.2

The ta sk fa cin g h ig h er ed u ca tio n is to reconcile that desirable diversity with achievement of r e a so n a b le c o n siste n c y in stan d ard s o f aw ards. 10.3

This n e e d s to in co rp o ra te a clarity o f approach which enables those inside and outside

higher education to have co n fid en ce in th e effectiv en ess and fa ir n e ss o f the

a rra n g em en ts .10.3______________________________________________________________

At present, th e re is n o c o n siste n t ra tion ale fo r th e stru ctu re o r n o m en cla tu re o f

aw ards a cro ss h ig h er education. Most substantively, at the postgraduate level, the term s p o stg ra d u a te d ip lo m a and certificate have little c o m m o n m ea n in g across in stitu tio n s. T h ere is co n sid era b le co n fu sio n about th e ‘M ’ (M a sters) title. 10.10

Not surprisingly, the Harris report on postgraduate education concluded that, although there

had always been d iv ersity in postgraduate titles, it had rea ch ed th e p o in t o f b ein g

un h elp fu l, and th a t in a n u m b er o f ca ses it w as p o sitiv ely m isle a d in g .1 We concluded that this situation had arisen as a result of a ‘market system’ operating during a period of increased demand for postgraduate qualifications without an adequate framework or

control mechanism. 10.11

The p ro b lem o f reliance on such a market system is that by the time the market has

corrected the worst examples of am bigu ous stan dards, damage may have been done to the

whole sector. 10.11

A num ber of organisations have proposed the development of a framework to p rovid e

clarity o n lev e ls o f a ch iev em en t and to show the progression pathways for students. 10.15

We agree with those who have represented th e n eed fo r a fra m ew o rk o f q u alification s

provid in g g rea ter clarity to th e m ea n in g o f aw ards at th e h ig h er lev e ls, and we have

This is a salutary warning for undergraduate education. If greater market influences were to be

introduced w ith o u t an a d eq u a te fra m ew o rk o r m ec h a n ism s to e n su r e th e

c o n siste n t u s e o f title s a n d c o rresp o n d in g lev el o f aw ard, g rea t dam age could be d o n e. 10.12

At level H4, we believe that th e title ‘H o n o u r s’ s h o u ld b e clea rly u n d er sto o d to denote

a level achieved in a single subject, a professional area or related subjects, which would include

the existing combined honours programmes. 10.47

At the postgraduate level, w e h ave h eard so m e c o n cern s ab ou t th e com p arab ility and

c o n siste n c y o f sta n d a rd s of postgraduate programmes across the higher education sector.

1 0 . 5 9

W e c o n c lu d e th a t UK aw ards at all lev els, and e sp e cia lly th e fir s t d egree, m u st be n a tio n a lly r e c o g n ise d and w id e ly u n d ersto o d . 10.63

To this end, building on work already in train, in stitu tio n s n e e d to b e m o re exp licit and

pu b licly a c c essib le ab o u t th e stan d ard s o f a tta in m en t r eq u ired fo r d ifferen t p ro g ra m m es and aw ards. 10.64

This will require institutions to be exp licit about th e req u ired sta n d a rd s fo r aw ards

and to m ak e th is in fo r m a tio n pub licly available. 10.67.

If institutions are willing to develop in this way, so that it is clear to all stakeholders w hat

th ey can ex p ect fro m h ig h er ed u cation , w e b e lie v e th a t it w ill b e p o ssib le to r e sto r e a ‘q u a lified tr u st’ b e tw e e n h igh er ed u ca tio n in stitu tio n s, stu d en ts and the p u b lic fu n d e r s o f h ig h e r education. If stu d en ts, em p lo y ers or s ta ff in in stitu tio n s h ave ju s tifie d c o m p la in ts or co n cern s about th e quality o f ed u ca tio n a l p rovision , th ere w ill h a v e to b e m ea n s to take a ction to p ro tect th e m and th e w id er

r ep u ta tio n o f h ig h er ed u ca tio n . 10.69

We have already noted our concerns about the break d ow n in c o n siste n c y o f th e u se o f

p o stg ra d u a te q u a lifica tio n titles, and have made a recommendation to rectify this as part

of the development of a framework of qualifications. 10.70

The UK audits have identified a number of areas fo r im p ro v em en t in collaborative audit

arrangements, su ch as clea rer sta tem en ts about th e a im s a n d p u r p o se s o f differen t

k in d s o f co lla b o ra tio n and form al p r o c e sse s to en su re th e active m a n a g em en t o f rem o te p ro v isio n , once in operation. 10.75 «________________________________________

It will be clear fro m th e extracts in Table 5.2 th a t th e m ain device em ployed in p ro m o tin g th e im p ressio n th a t th e re is inconsistency a n d lack o f clarity is considerable d u p licatio n an d rep etitio n of negative p h ra ses eith e r alone or co m b in ed w ith o th e r phrases.

In add itio n , th ro u g h th e use of such phases such as : ‘p re-co n d itio n ’; ‘conditional u p o n s tric t u n d e rstan d in g ’; ‘re tu rn to a qualified tr u s t’, ch ap ter 10 re-enforces th e im p ressio n th a t th e alleged failing of inconsistency a n d lack of

clarity is n o t only fact ra th e r th a n assertio n , b u t also th a t such failings have p e rsiste d over tim e.

Exam ple :

“we believe that it will be possible to restore a ‘qualified trust* between higher education institutions, students and the public fu n d ers o f higher education .” (10.69)

Exam ple :

“I t would be a

pre-condition

• institutions are explicit about standards

• institutions are prepared to adopt national codes o f practice” (10.68)

and later in the chapter:

• franchising should continue, but only on the

strict understanding

m ust not prejudice the assurance o f quality and maintenance o f standards “

(10.74)

A n o th er device u se d in ch ap ter 10 to reinforce th e im p ressio n th a t an alleged failing is fact, ra th e r th a n assertion, is to discuss possible rem edies for those alleged problem s. Exam ples o f th is device are p re se n te d in th e n ex t table.

TABLE 5.3 Remedies for the implied shortcomings to build a particular