ASEM Education and ASEM Expert Group on SDGs and Education (EG1)
MFHEA is co-chairing the ASEM Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goals and Education. This new group was established at the Intermediate Senior Officials’ Meeting (ISOM) in November 2022. The purpose of the group is to foster dialogue on Sustainable Development Goals in education with specific regard to the four priorities of the ASEM Education Process to promote peer learning among the appointed experts of both regions; to strengthen collaboration in Sustainable Development Goals and connectivity by identifying, sharing, and promoting good practice concerning the implementation Sustainable Development Goals in education at national, regional interregional and local level; and complementing the work of other ASEM expert groups by providing expertise in the field of Sustainable Development Goals.
See: The Intermediate Senior Officials Meeting (ISOM) 2022, Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM1) 2023
Eurostudent 8 Consortium
MFHEA is a consortium member of the Eurostudent project. The EUROSTUDENT project collects and analyses comparable data on the social dimension of European higher education. A wide range of topics related to students’ social and economic conditions are covered. The project strives to provide reliable and insightful cross-country comparisons. It does this through coupling a central coordination approach with a strong network of national partners in each participating country. The central coordination team is made up of a consortium with seven member organisations; each of these partners is assigned specific tasks.
See: EUROSTUDENT 8 Researchers’ Forum
BFUG Social Dimension Working Group
The MFHEA actively participates in the BFUG Social Dimension Working Group. The overarching aim of Working Group on Social Dimension is to develop proposed instruments and policies to fulfil the objective in the Paris Communiqué and to support national plans and strategies aimed at strengthening social dimension of higher education, as well as to improve access and completion by under-represented and vulnerable groups.
Working Group on Monitoring the Implementation of the Bologna Process
MFHEA is represented on the Working Group on Monitoring. The Working Group on Monitoring was adopted by the BFUG meeting in Vienna in September 2018 with the purpose to prepare for 2020 a report assessing the main developments in the EHEA since the Bologna Process began, including to what extent we have fulfilled the mobility target agreed in Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve in 2009, to continue to provide reliable, comparable data and to take stock of progress towards realising the European Higher Education Area, to make further progress in improving structured and standardised monitoring of the EHEA and to ensure that accurate comparisons can be made between countries and that implementation and other changes are transparent within as well as between countries.
BFUG on Global Policy Dialogue
The MFHEA participates in the BFUG on Global Policy Dimension. The Coordination Group on Global Policy Dialogue aims at developing continuous dialogue with other regions and international organisations on matters of common concern and relevance for higher education with respect to which cooperation and sharing of ideas and policies can be mutually beneficial. CG1 on Global Policy Dialogue aimed at preparing and conducting the Bologna Global Policy Forum that was planned to be held in conjunction with the 2020 Rome Ministerial Conference. As the Ministerial Conference was organised in a virtual format, a Global Policy Forum could not take place and a Global dialogue panel “Moving towards 2030: what global cooperation in higher education should look like and how to build it” was organised during the afternoon on the global approach in the next decade of the EHEA.
BFUG WG on Fundamental Values
The MFHEA is a co-chair on this WG that promotes fundamental values in education, including Academic freedom, student and staff participation, institutional autonomy, academic integrity, and public responsibility for and of education. The WG is presently working on a document which would depict clear definitions of such terms.
Thematic Peer Group A on Qualifications Frameworks (TPG A on QF)
The MFHEA participates in the TPG A on Qualifications Frameworks. In September 2018, the BFUG formally established this Thematic Peer Group A on Qualifications Framework (TPG A on QF) – more specifically on Key Commitment 1: a three-cycle system compatible with the overarching frameworks of the EHEA and first and second cycle degrees scaled by ECTS – based on the interests and needs indicated by the BFUG members and Consultative members in a survey conducted during the summer of 2018. Specific thematic indications include topics such as:
o self-certification of the national qualification frameworks the overarching Qualifications Framework of the EHEA,
o complete implementation of the ECTS User’s Guide,
o short cycle higher education,
o multiple purposes and use of the qualifications frameworks by the stakeholders,
o study programmes outside of the Bologna three-cycle structure,
o relationship between the qualifications frameworks and quality assurance.
Group of Coordinators (GOC) PQD
The GOC meetings stem from the Professional qualifications Directive and meets regularly. It is composed of all Mutual Recognition Coordinators, EEA members and the European Commission. During the meeting Cion imparts important instructions, disseminates information covering a wide array of topic pertinent to the Implementation of the directive. Moreover, the GOC serves for member states to present national information and data as requests by the Directive. Cion also consults member states on topics and ad-hoc issues where representatives are obliged to participate. All main periodical reporting obligations are regularly discussed together with other significant changes such as developments and changes in Common training frameworks and
Annex V.
Joint Meeting of the GOC and the Services Expert Group together with the National experts on the Implementation of the Services Directive meet with the European Commission to discuss both Directives since there are common instruments, procedures, and provisions. Both Directive have a wide cross cutting reach, and this is reflected in the good cooperation between MFHE on the PQD side and the Ministry for the Economy on the Services Directive Side. The frequency of this meeting is not static it’s at Cion’s discretion.
In addition, MFHEA is represented on the following groups:
- ASEM – Asian European Education Meeting.
- NARIC – Centres nationaux d’information pour la reconnaissance académique – National Academic Recognition Information Centres.
- CDEDU – the MFHEA is the Malta representative on the Steering Committee for Education Practice and Policy of the Council of Europe. The CEO is also an elected member of the CDEDU Bureau.
- EQAVET – EQAVET aims to enhance the quality of vocational education and training programmes.
o Expert group on European Quality assurance in Vocational Education and Training
o EQAVET National Reference Point
- ETINED – Council of Europe Platform on Ethics, Transparency and Integrity in Education. The ETINED Platform is a network of specialists appointed by Member States of the Council of Europe and of States Parties to the European Cultural Convention, in the field of ethics, transparency and integrity in education and the fight against education fraud.
- Europass – National Europass Centres – Europass offers online tools that support learners, workers and job seekers across Europe.
- European Qualifications Framework – National Coordination Points – Malta established its Malta Qualifications Framework (MQF) in 2007 and the Malta Further and Higher Education Authority (MFHEA) is the local competent authority to recognise qualifications and accredit courses against the Malta Qualifications Framework.
- ESCO Advisory Group – ESCO (European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations) is the European multilingual classification of Skills, Competences and Occupations.
- National Reference Point on Graduate Tracking and Ecorys national expert for European Graduate tracking Initiative – The Network promotes the cooperation and mutual learning of countries participating in the European Graduate Tracking Initiative.
- European Wergeland Centre: the CEO is a bureau member of the EWC, representing the Council of Europe.
- EPAN – the Education Policy Advisors Network (EPAN) was established to support education authorities in the Council of Europe member states to promote democracy and human rights in education through the use of the Reference Framework of Competences for Democratic Culture (RFCDC), adapted to each context.
- EQA Validation
- IMINQA – QA of micro credentials – Implementation and Innovation in QA through peer learning
- WG on QA of European Universities