The debate on the quality of education is important. But the Quality Commission is off the mark, according to Rector Brian Bech Nielsen and Dean of Education Mette Thunø.

2014.04.10 | Anders Correll

On Thursday, the  Quality Commission published its first report, Nye veje - Fremtidens videregående uddannelsessystem (New paths - the higher education system of the future). In the report, the commission details a number of radical proposals on quality, relevance and coherence.

“It’s important that we have a fundamental debate about educational quality now. For that reason, I welcome the Quality Commission’s report. The report contains a lot of interesting ideas and highlights a number of the challenges we face today. Unfortunately, the commission’s solutions are off the mark, if the goal is to improve academic quality, international cooperation and the education of qualified university graduates for the labour market of the future,” states Rector Nielsen.

The commission proposes that the current three-year Bachelor’s degree programme structure should be replaced by a four-year Bachelor’s degree, and that the Master’s degree should be a one-year programme (called a  4-+ 1 scheme in the report). The goal is for more graduates of Bachelor’s programmes to move directly onto the labour market. To reach this goal, the commission proposes a repeal of the legislation that guarantees graduates of Bachelor’s programmes enrolment in a Master’s degree programme in their subject, and that just one-third of Bachelor’s graduates be directly admitted to Master’s degree programmes. The remaining two-thirds of Bachelor’s graduates would become eligible for admission to a Master’s degree programme after two years on the labour market, or if their employer allows them to take the degree while working over the course of a maximum of three years.

 

No job market for Bachelor’s grads today

“Absolutely, there would be advantages to getting more BA and BSc graduates out on the labour market. But if we look at how the Danish labour market functions today, the proposal to extend the Bachelor’s degree to a four-year programme doesn’t make sense. The vast majority of businesses are interested in hiring graduates with Master’s degrees, and their expectations regarding graduates’ competences continue to rise,” explains Rector Nielsen, who adds:

“To get more Bachelor’s graduates directly on the labour market will require radical changes to the structure of the entire labour market and a willingness to hire Bachelor’s graduates. What’s more, many Danish students would most likely lose out in the competition for jobs, because the competition from international students is becoming more and more intense.”

 

4+1 would obstruct internationalisation

The Quality Commission’s proposed reduction of the Master’s degree programme from two years to one year is surprising, as this would result in a reduction of the quality of Danish university degree programmes.
 

“Removing one of the crown jewels of Danish university education - the two-year Master’s degree, where students integrate independent study and research into their work - would be catastrophic for the Danish educational system of the future. We can’t settle for a very limited academic workforce of one-year Master’s degree graduates and a few PhDs, while other countries are expanding the competences of their workforce precisely by increasing admissions to their five-year university degree programmes,” says Mette Thunø, dean of education at AU.

Another drawback to the 4+1 scheme is that it would contribute to making the Danish educational system incompatible with those of other countries, which would in effect amount to opting out of international educational cooperation. As a result, Danish universities and students would fall behind in the ongoing process of making university students more internationally oriented.

“The proposal conflicts with the Bologna Declaration of 1999, which was intended to create a common space for higher education in Europe. It would mean fewer international students on our Master’s degree programmes, and it would be more difficult to offer joint degrees in collaboration with international partner universities. And there aren’t many indications that graduates with one-year Master’s degrees would be competitive on the international labour market,” says Rector Nielsen.

 

Does quality start at thirty students?

The commission has also proposed that degree programmes that admit fewer than 30 students per year should be discontinued, and that degree programmes that admit fewer than 60 students annual should only be offered at one university in Denmark. This would apply to a number of the classical humanistic degree programmes, including German, Brazilian studies and classical archaeology, as well as specialised degree programmes in engineering that currently admit around 30 students annually.

“This proposal would have major consequences for the degree programmes we offer at Arts. Today, 25 per cent of our degree programmes admit fewer than 30 students, and a little under half admit fewer than 60 students,” explains Thunø, who is dean of the Faculty of Arts. She find its a bit difficult to understand why threshold for academic quality should be precisely 30 students.

 

No future for employment taximeter financing

With regard to the issue of the coherence of the educational system, the Quality Commission recommends that the four-year professional Bachelor’s degree programmes should be retained, and that graduates should be offered two-year Master’s degree programme at the universities.

“That graduates of professional Bachelor’s programmes should be the only Bachelor’s graduates in the Danish educational system to be offered the option of a two-year’s Master’s programme is a very surprising proposal. It doesn’t seem logical in relation to creating a more coherent educational system with equal access for all,” comments Dean Thunø.

But there are also commendable ideas and proposals in the report. For example, there are a number of ideas on how to link degree programmes and the labour market. One proposal is to make it easier for new students to gain a clear overview of a degree programme, from orientation week to career opportunities. The idea of combining a Master’s degree programme with a job is also a good strategy for linking the labour market and higher education more closely, and deserves more attention from all parties.

Aarhus University is also very positive towards the Quality Commission’s recommendation not to introduce taximeter financing based on graduate employment rates or tuition fees unless major changes are made in Danish student loan and tax policy.

“The Quality Commission’s report is an important contribution to the ongoing discussion about educational quality. We welcome this debate - but this report is far from the final word. Without a doubt, the Quality Commission’s proposals would make it cheaper for society to offer advanced degree programmes. The question is whether these solutions would improve academic quality and the national economy. Finally, let’s not forget that it’s comparatively easy to close down a degree programme relative to what it costs in terms of time and resources to build one up. So it’s very important that we think twice before we act,” says Rector Nielsen.

• Read the Quality Commission report (in Danish)