MOZAMBIQUE: University u-turn on 'Bologna' degrees

Fifteen faculties of Mozambique's Eduardo Mondlane University will change from a three-year back to a four-year bachelor degree programme in the 2012 academic year, reversing the adoption of the Bologna process degree structure. The switch is aimed at producing better-trained, labour-marketable graduates.

This follows a decision this month by the university council of Mozambique's oldest higher education institution to ditch the Bologna process - following an evaluation of the process at the university after three years.

Europe's Bologna process, a declaration signed on 19 June 1999 by education ministers of 29 countries, promotes the academic harmonisation and accreditation of programmes offered by higher education institutions across countries.

The Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM) decision to return the curriculum to four years for the bachelor degree follows intense debates in academia, said the Noticias newspaper.

Some academics were concerned at the severe lack of preparation evident in students entering university from the country's secondary schools, said the director of academic records at UEM, Ivan Collinson.

He said at most universities around the world the first year is for integration. In this regard it was important to consider that most schools in Mozambique lacked good teachers, well-equipped libraries and information technology laboratories, which makes the first year at university difficult for students. They have to change their study methods and familiarise themselves with a new learning environment and new resources.

UEM introduced the three-year-degree in 2009, after academic reform to adopt the Bologna process at the university. Prior to this, most of the programmes were four-year degrees, with some exceptions, such as for medicine, veterinary studies and architecture, which required seven and six years of study.

According to the Bologna process, bachelor programmes should be reduced to three years in most cases, followed by a two-year masters and three-year doctorate. Good marks or enough credits from the first cycle grant access to the next.

Commenting on the decision to ditch the Bologna process, Collinson said it was "necessary to design a plan which involves the education system as a whole, and not make this kind of reform only at the university level".

"If the period of time the students spend at the university is reduced, this time of contact should be compensated [for] by the previous levels of education, such as secondary school," Collinson told University World News.

He argued for the need to adopt a "well-planned systemic approach and ensure the deepest involvement of all stakeholders".

He said that by moving back to four-year degrees the university was recognising the real context and status of students who entered university for the first time.

The knowledge of how students were prepared to face higher education was crucial to help define the curriculum better and ensure graduates were really prepared to face the labour market.

Collinson pointed out that while it might seem ironic, the decision to ditch the Bolonga process was part of the university's contribution to boosting quality in the education system and increasing its capacity to produce highly skilled professionals.

Mozambique is one Portuguese-speaking African country that has aligned its degree system with Europe, and many French-speaking countries including Senegal, Algeria and Tunisia, have also made major structural changes to their degree systems to align with Bologna.

"Universities around the world are striving for quality," said Lesley Wilson, the secretary general of the European University Association. "The same can be said for those in Africa," she told University World News.

Wilson said they had been working closely with the Association of African Universities on issues of higher education quality and professionalism for the past three years.

She said developments such as the changes at the Mozambican university and others in Africa indicate "areas where we can increase cooperation and share experiences".