In 2007, the minister in charge of higher education launched the reform
of higher education due to be implemented over five years. The project
for university, the foundation of which is the law of 10 August 2007
relative to the freedom and responsibilities of universities, will be
progressively developed based on five priorities: success in the licenceexamination, improvement in
students’ living conditions, modernisation of the material conditions
required for the accomplishment of higher education and university
missions as well as an improvement in the career of personnel and the
conditions of young researchers and teacher/researchers.
The new law underlines the importance of the multi-year
contract signed between the State and universities, making it a genuine
objective and resource-related contract evaluated every four years.
By
virtue of this law, university budgets will benefit from an additional
one billion Euros in 2008, i.e. an 8% increase, or the equivalent of
400 Euros more per student. By 2012, a total of five billion Euros
should be allocated to university.
A set of specifications
focusing on the work required of universities as part of the reform
defines the criteria assessing the university’s ability to implement
the new competences stipulated by law and make the most of them. These
specifications will be completed by an "audit guide" designed for the
auditors conducting university audits.
Furthermore, the main benefits of the law of 10 August 2007 relate to:
- The public service missions of higher education;
- Academic governance;
- Steering;
- New responsibilities and competences of universities;
- The creation of a selection committee for the examination of applications with regard to vacant teacher/researcher jobs;
- The creation of a national Education mediator position.
Finally, the following key points of the new law have caused student unrest during the 2007 academic year:
-
Enrolment fees:
no provision in the law relative to university freedom and
responsibilities concerns enrolment fees. This is the responsibility of
the State and these fees will continue to be set by order of the
minister of higher Education and Research;
-
University selection: admission into university remains conditional upon the
baccalauréat.
However, the law reinforces the principle of freedom of enrolment in
the first cycle, thereby enabling students to enrol in any institution
within their local académie, while maintaining the guarantee that every student can enrol in the
académiein which they obtained their
baccalauréat;
-
University status:
the fact that universities can receive donations from companies or
sponsors does not in any way imply their privatisation. Universities
will remain the sole decision-maker with regard to the use of these
donations;
-
The value of qualifications:
the value of university qualifications will not be affected by the
reform: they are and will remain national, determined by the State.
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