Competences acquired at work, at university or in other contexts should be recognised as easily as possible when changing subjects or universities and between studies and the world of work. This is the aim of recommendations adopted by the General Assembly of the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) yesterday in Leipzig.
"The resolution is addressed to higher education institutions, the federal states and the federal government as well as non-university education stakeholders. We want to facilitate lifelong, flexible learning through coordinated standards and recommendations appropriate to the target group," said HRK President Professor Dr Peter-André Alt. Low hurdles for academic recognition and recognition of prior learning contribute to the permeability of the education system and promote national and international mobility.
In the paper, the universities commit to an "appreciative" university culture with the aim of regulating recognition and credit transfer procedures throughout the university in a binding and student-friendly manner, as well as digitalising processes and making them transparent.
The federal and state governments are also called to contribute by promoting the mutual improvement of permeability between vocational and academic education through increased cooperation between universities and other actors and increasing basic university funding in accordance with the additional tasks.
The HRK calls on vocational education and training providers to increasingly recognise competences from higher education to vocational education and training and to promote a focus on competences and learning outcomes to ensure a common basis for assessment.
"Universities, the federal states, the federal government and non-university education stakeholders should work together to improve recognition and credit transfer practices in Germany. Such a holistic approach is necessary so that we in Germany can fully exploit the potential of our high-performance education system," Alt emphasised.
The resolution was drafted within the framework of an HRK project funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, "MODUS – Enhancing student mobility across educational boundaries through recognition" and is based on the publication "Recognition: Challenges and Perspectives" (available in German online and in print at www.hrk-modus.de).
View text of the resolution
