02 - Iceland - Ongoing debates and future developments
The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture supervises the implementation of the Bologna process.
The Ministry appointed in 2003 a National Bologna working group to coordinate and conduct the
process and to provide input and make proposals for possible legislative reforms and regulations in
order to ensure successful implementation of the process. The group consists of representatives from
the ministry, from all the higher education institutions, and a student representative.
The new Higher Education Act of July 2006 fully implements the Bologna Process into Icelandic higher
education. The means that the Icelandic HEI’s and the countries system is fully compatable with those
of other Bologna member states.
The Higher Education Act, enacted in July 2006, establishes the
general framework for the activities of higher education. The role of each public higher education
institution is further defined in a separate act of parliament on its activities. The charters of private
institutions define their engagement in research, internal organisation, etc. The charters and the
special legislations concerning each individual institution are under revision.
Another aspect of the new Higher Education Act is a new emphasise on quality work and quality
assurance in Higher Education. All institutions that are currently operating are must apply for
accreditation in each field of study before July 2008.
In recent years there has been a significant rise in the number of students in higher education, followed
by an increase in the availability of higher education programmes of various lengths. In relation to this,
there is ongoing debate about the finances of higher education institutions. Private institutions receive
state support and can also charge tuition fees. Public institutions are only authorised to charge
registration fees. This problem has though been partly resolved by a great increase of government
funding towards the HEI’s in late 2006.
Institutions:
The Ministry of Education, Science and Culture
Eurydice - the information network on education in Europe
Date: 2009
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