La legitimación procesal del Defensor del Pueblo:

5.4.1

The Netherlands started the degree reforms quickly and thoroughly. Among the accompanying measures, the use of ECTS was introduced quickly as well. With regard to the Diploma Supplement, practice in the Netherlands is not perfect but reasonably developed (DS is given automatically in 75% of university cases; hbo figure unknown), although the ratification of the Lisbon Recognition Convention to which the Diploma Supplement originally belonged is still awaited. Regulatory reform is also still awaited with regard to enabling joint degree programmes and the development of a Netherlands Qualifications Framework. On the positive side again, the impression

from international sources is that the difference between the reforms-on-paper and the reforms-in-practice is smaller for the Netherlands than for some other countries in the Bologna process.

From a regulatory perspective, and viewing the practices underlying the legal reforms, the Netherlands at this moment is still keeping up well with other countries, although the head-start advantage is being lost.

Effects on student mobility remain limited, as far as statistics can show. Incoming mobility is increasing slowly or remained stable since 2004, more or less in line with developments in other European countries. Outgoing mobility has decreased after 2003. It should be noted, though, that the statistics are far from perfect and do not capture much of the ‘free mobility’, so that not more than broad trends can be gleaned from them.

5.4.2

The Netherlands at this moment is keeping up well with other countries; NVAO was evaluated positively for compliance with the European Standards and Guidelines in 2007. As with the degree reform, the Netherlands was fast with starting the reform of quality assurance towards accreditation.

The Netherlands is well embedded in the forefront of working towards mutual recognition of accreditation decisions in the EHEA.

Debates about the accreditation system in Germany are broadly similar to those in the Netherlands: the initial choice for programme accreditation is giving way to arguments for more efficiency, for the assessment of larger entities, and possibly putting more trust in th higher education institutions’ own organisation of quality assurance for study programmes. Contrary movements, towards stricter and more extended accreditation systems do not occur in any countries with functioning accreditation schemes.

The questions of reception and trust in Dutch higher education as a result of the accreditation scheme will be treated in the next section.

Accreditation of joint programmes leading to double or joint degrees should be simplified, e.g. by making higher education institutions fully responsible for the quality and standards of all degrees that they issue, including joint degrees. In that case, a single evaluation or accreditation of a (joint) study programme would suffice as the institution is also to vouch for the education taking place in partner institutions abroad.

5.4.3

Views on Dutch higher education in surrounding countries and some important comparators (Belgium (Flanders), Denmark, Germany, Sweden and the United Kingdom) are positive. The Dutch bachelors and masters are received at the appropriate levels, although experience with the new bachelor–master degrees is still limited. Thus, trust at this moment is still largely based on the usually positive experiences with ‘old-style’ degrees (including those of hbo institutions).

The distinction between hbo and university degrees is not always understood completely and almost invariably given less importance than within the Netherlands. Notwithstanding information by Nuffic etc., higher education institutions and employers abroad often interpret the Dutch binary structure as more or less the same as the national distinctions, in countries that have different sectors in their higher education systems. In countries without binary structures, the distinction is considered rather unimportant. Both for continued study (especially for Ph.D. programmes) and for employment in the private sector, the ultimate decision is with the receiving higher education institution or the receiving employer, and in those decisions as a rule individual curricula vitae are considered, not just the higher education degrees.

The standards of Dutch higher education degrees are valued highly abroad; the practical certainty of solid basic quality backed up by what is generally seen as a rigorous accreditation process is a major factor in this trust.

In countries that as a rule have two-year master phases (in our sample: Denmark and Germany), the Dutch one-year master programmes are deemed too short to give the necessary competences to graduates. This is sometimes a negative factor in the recognition of Dutch higher Education abroad and it is one of the main factors making joint degree programme development with foreign higher education institutions difficult.

5.4.4

In Denmark and Sweden, legislation for joint degrees was not yet in place, making engagement in joint programmes problematic also from their side. Other legal barriers include different academic calendars, complexities of student grant systems, but also issues of titles and degrees for hbo institutions (e.g. in cooperation with German

Fachhochschulen). Beyond those highly important formalities, cooperation with Dutch higher education and higher education institutions was usually judged to be among

the easiest in Europe. The large offer of courses and study programmes in English at Dutch higher education institutions is a factor of importance in this respect.

The English proficiency of Dutch higher education staff and students is valued highly in international comparison.

The rise of mobility figures aimed for in the Bologna Declaration did not show yet. Strengthening the position of the bachelor degree as a ‘full-fledged’ higher education degree would assist in making labour-market mobility with a bachelor degree a better- accepted option in the eyes of graduates.

5.4.5

Judgements about strengths and weaknesses of the typical Dutch students (or stereotypes?) include that they are proficient in English, and have an international outlook. Yet they have a less serious attitude towards studying.

EBAMAC report v25 | 2008-08-18

CBS Central Bureau of Statistics

DS Diploma Supplement: a document issued with each higher education diploma explaining the place of the degree in the Dutch higher education system, of the grades given, etc.

EC European Credits: workload indicator of higher education courses and modules in line with the ECTS. An academic year consists of 60 EC, throughout all countries in the Bologna process. This implies that the workload per EC may be different across countries. The recommended range is 25-30 working hours per EC.

ECTS European Credit Transfer System

EHEA European Higher Education Area: the intended outcome of the Bologna process by 2010.

hbo The higher education sector of ‘universities of applied science’, ‘hoger beroepsonderwijs’.

NVAO Netherlands-Flanders Accreditation Organisation

OCW Education, Culture and Science (Ministry responsible for higher education) VSNU Association of Dutch Universities